If criminals have a right to a lawyer, I think working Americans should have a right to a doctor. I believe there is nothing more fundamental than the right to see a doctor when you’re sick. 

What good is quality care if there are financial or physical barriers to care?  

Today, even if you may have the financial means to pay for premiums, you may not be able to get coverage, leaving you exposed to potentially losing everything you own in the event that you suffer just one illness.  

You should never face the specter of indigence resulting from the high price of medical services, forcing foreclosure on your reputation or your future. 

Physical barriers such as “pre-existing conditions” should become a “thing-of-the-past” once we put to rest this ethical conflict of interest: medicine is a calling, not a business.  

The anxiety over health insurance eligibility, benefits, deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses should never shape major life decisions or put your health at further risk. We need to trust that our best interests are at heart and not compromised by financial motives. What is at stake is a secure home, a stable livelihood and the protection of our health. 

Universal – Everybody is Worthy of Care 

Everyone of all walks of life should have continuous coverage, independent of an employer and the market, allowing you the freedom to change jobs, start a family, run your own business, continue education, retire or even change homes, regardless of your age, the color of your skin, the shape of your eye lids, your education or even your income, employment or marital status.  This is what the “Land of Opportunity” is all about. 

Restore Control of Medical Decisions to You and Your Doctor! 

Good health is the most precious gift in life. We should never let our health be put at the mercy of the market because, as we all know, it has no mercy.  

Wall Street Medicine is bound by law to put the financial interests of its stockholders first…ahead of providing care for your health. So, it employs legions of gatekeepers located hundreds of miles away who override the professional integrity of your doctor in deciding if you get care or not. This is wrong!  

When I am in Congress, I will put forth legislation that will make sure that the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship is restored by putting you and your doctor in control of your medical decisions. It’s about you and your doctor working cooperatively, as partners, rather than as adversarial buyers and sellers.  

Your doctor should enjoy the professional sovereignty and freedom to diagnose and prescribe therapy while you as a patient have the choice of physician, a right as important as voting and free speech.  

Should you ever get sick or hurt in an accident, you want to know that your medical interests come first and that you get the same treatment as everyone else. 

One Fully-Integrated “First-Dollar” Health Care Plan 

With some industries nationwide, you can track Fed Ex packages, bank on-line, trade shares, file taxes or re-new a driver’s license. Wouldn’t it be simpler and better for the patient, and for the doctor, if the patient could bring his or her e-health care card, swipe it in a card reader at the time of service and have the doctor get paid on the spot with electronic funds transfer? Here’s what I would propose:   

One Financing System dedicates funding to medical care and services within a fair and regulated budget, rendering the question “Do you have insurance?” obsolete. 

One Comprehensive Benefits Plan covering all medically necessary treatments including primary care and prevention, in-patient and out-patient hospital care, prescription drugs, long-term care, mental health services, chiropractic, dental, vision, and hearing care services. 

One Uniform Electronic Claims and Payment Format that will reduce claims processing to a minimum nationwide. Everybody in the country will carry a health card which will allow the attending physician access to personal medical history in a computer network interoperable between doctors, hospitals, clinics, labs and pharmacies ensuring that medical services are safer, more reliable and more responsive for your hard-earned dollar. First-dollar coverage kicks-in immediately since there are no co-pays or deductibles. 

For providers: prompt “on the spot” payment of reimbursements through e-billing and electronic fund transfers. Health care providers have ready access to their money and avoid borrowing costs.  

Eliminate the estimated 30% - 60% of provider overhead squandered on billing, coding, eligibility and coverage regulations and administrative paperwork required by the existing inefficient and overlapping system of third party reimbursements.         

Kalb on panel with Rep. Jim McDermott, MD (D-WA 7th CD) and Donna Smith

The Western Washington Chapter of PNHP (Physicians for a National Health Program) invited Larry to be a panelist with US Rep. Jim McDermott and Donna Smith, a community organizer for National Nurses United (the new national arm of the California Nurses Association).