NEW YORK — Andrew Yang today unveiled a New Way Forward to fix the broken healthcare system in America and ensure that every American receives the healthcare they need.
“We’re having the wrong conversation on healthcare. We are spending all our time arguing over who wants to cover Americans more. We talk about how we’re going to pay for it, when we already are. What we need to address are the underlying problems driving unaffordability and access. It’s ridiculous that the richest and most advanced country in the history of the world has millions of Americans worried about bankruptcy because of medical bills. We owe it to ourselves and our children to get this right and ensure that people are getting the care they need and deserve,” said Andrew Yang. “My plan accomplishes that through a holistic approach that includes a focus on preventative care and mental health, while taking the pharmaceutical industry to task on behalf of the American people.”
Solving the root problems plaguing the American healthcare system means controlling the costs of prescription drugs. It means investing in innovative technology to cut waste and boost access. It means changing the incentive structure for providers. It means shifting our focus on more stages of care. It means revamping what comprehensive care means in the 21st century to include crucial aspects of wellbeing. It means taking on the powerful lobbyists in Washington, DC.
Andrew Yang’s plan is a statement on the critical failings of our system and the viable paths to solve them. We cannot find the answers to one of the most serious problems in modern American history unless we are asking the right questions. It’s time we start asking them.
Andrew Yang’s plan to fix our broken healthcare system will tackle the root problems through a six-pronged approach:
- Control the cost of life-saving prescription drugs, through negotiating drug prices, using international reference pricing, forced licensing, public manufacturing facilities, and importation.
- Invest in technologies to finally make health services function efficiently and reduce waste by utilizing modernized services like telehealth and assistive technology, supported by measures such as multi-state licensing laws.
- Change the incentive structure by offering flexibility to providers, prioritizing patients over paperwork, and increasing the supply of practitioners.
- Shift our focus and educating ourselves in preventative care and end-of-life care options.
- Ensure crucial aspects of wellbeing, including mental health, care for people with disabilities, HIV/AIDs detection and treatment, reproductive health, maternal care, dental, and vision are addressed and integrated into comprehensive care for the 21st century.
- Diminish the influence of lobbyists and special interests in the healthcare industry that makes it nearly impossible to draft and pass meaningful healthcare reform.