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Al Gross on Health Care

 

 


Alaska has most expensive health care in the world

[My opponent Dan Sullivan] voted against health care on numerous occasions, taking away pre-existing conditions coverage or taking away the ability for those under 26 to stay on their parents' plans. It became clear he didn't understand or care about the economic impact health care is having on our state. Alaska has the most expensive health care in the world and I really believe it's keeping new businesses from moving here because the overhead costs for businesses are just too high.
Source: Anchorage Press on 2020 Massachusetts Senate debate , Jan 22, 2020

Public option allows Alaska to compete on equal basis

For a state like Alaska, let individuals and small businesses buy into Medicare as an option. If a business is trying to decide where to put their employees, and if health care costs are half as much in Idaho as they are in Alaska, they're going to put them in Idaho. But if it's a level playing field and you have the same overhead for employees, there's no reason not to put those employees in Alaska.
Source: Anchorage Press on 2020 Massachusetts Senate debate , Jan 22, 2020

System is broken; start with Medicare and public option

Our healthcare system is broken. As a doctor, I've seen firsthand the struggles Alaskans and small businesses face with the prohibitively expensive cost of quality healthcare. In Alaska, we pay more for healthcare than any other state in the country. As your senator, I will first balance Medicare so that it works and is fair for both patients and for providers. We must allow Medicare to negotiate directly with the pharmaceutical industry for competitive savings.

We must offer Medicare as a public option, on the health care exchange for people to buy at cost, which will be markedly less expensive than what people are paying for health insurance today, without compromising access. This is a public option and it can and will work. And, this will help grow the economy and invite new business opportunities into our state.

Source: 2020 Alaska Senate campaign website DrAlGrossAK.com , Nov 20, 2019

Take on big pharma on prices & opioid epidemic

I'll take on big pharma to decrease drug prices and hold them accountable for the opioid epidemic that has destroyed the lives of too many Alaskans.
Source: 2020 Alaska Senate campaign website DrAlGrossAK.com , Nov 20, 2019

Increase access, lower prescription prices

Increasing access to affordable care and lowering the cost of prescription drugs are two of his top priorities when it comes to fixing health care, according to Dr. Gross. He's also committed to achieving a more efficient, coordinated delivery system; supporting physician hospital ownership; and facilitating new business opportunities through economic growth and competition in the industry.
Source: 2020 Alaska Senate race endorsements by OrthoPAC , Oct 1, 2019

Health care costs holds back economy, especially in Alaska

Gross referred to the number of people moving out of the state, the decreased state budget, shrinking higher education system. "I really think healthcare in Alaska is holding back the economy," said Gross. "We've got the most expensive healthcare system in the entire world, and in the entire country, and it's prohibitively expensive for companies or individuals to move to the state to start new businesses because healthcare is triple the national average here in Alaska."
Source: KRBD.org Ketchikan radio on 2020 Alaska Senate race , Aug 20, 2019

Led AK ballot initiatives to expand Medicaid

Gross was an orthopedic surgeon in Juneau, but left his practice in 2013 to earn a master's degree in public health, and to champion what some might call socialized medicine for all Alaskans. He led two ballot initiatives--one to enshrine Medicaid expansion, as provided by Gov. Bill Walker's executive order, and the other to start setting prices for medical services in order to regulate insurance companies. Neither made it to the ballot.
Source: MustReadAlaska.com on 2020 Alaska Senate race , May 14, 2019

Other candidates on Health Care: Al Gross on other issues:
AK Gubernatorial:
Bill Walker
Charlie Huggins
Mark Begich
Mead Treadwell
Mike Chenault
Mike Dunleavy
Sean Parnell
AK Senatorial:
Cean Stevens
Dan Sullivan
Edgar Blatchford
Joe Miller
Lisa Murkowski
Ray Metcalfe
Thomas Lamb

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Senate races 2019-20:
AK: Sullivan(R,incumbent) vs.Gross(I) vs.Blatchford(D)
AL: Jones(D,incumbent) vs.Tuberville(R) vs.Sessions(R) vs.Moore(R) vs.Rogers(D) vs.Merrill(R)
AR: Cotton(R,incumbent) vs.Harrington(L) vs.Whitfield(I) vs.Mahony(D)
AZ: McSally(R,incumbent) vs.Kelly(D)
CO: Gardner(R,incumbent) vs.Hickenlooper(D) vs.Madden(D) vs.Baer(D) vs.Walsh(D) vs.Johnston(D) vs.Romanoff(D) vs.Burnes(D) vs.Williams(D)
DE: Coons(D,incumbent) vs.Scarane(D) vs.Witzke(R) vs.DeMartino(R)
GA-2: Isakson(R,resigned) Loeffler(R,appointed) vs.Warnock(D) vs.Collins(R) vs.Tarver(D) vs.Carter(D) vs.Lieberman(D) vs.Grayson(R) vs.Stovall(I) vs.Buckley(L)
GA-6: Perdue(R,incumbent) vs.Ossoff(D) vs.Hazel(L) vs.Tomlinson(D) vs.Terry(D)
IA: Ernst(R,incumbent) vs.Greenfield(D) vs.Graham(D) vs.Mauro(D) vs.Franken(D)
ID: Risch(R,incumbent) vs.Jordan(D) vs.Harris(D)
IL: Durbin(D,incumbent) vs.Curran(R) vs.Stava-Murray(D)
KS: Roberts(R,retiring) vs.Marshall(R) vs.Bollier(D) vs.LaTurner(R) vs.Wagle(R) vs.Kobach(R) vs.Lindstrom(R) vs.Grissom(D)
KY: McConnell(R,incumbent) vs.McGrath(D) vs.Morgan(R) vs.Cox(D) vs.Tobin(D) vs.Booker(D)
LA: Cassidy(R,incumbent) vs.Perkins(D) vs.Pierce(D)

MA: Markey(D,incumbent) vs.O`Connor(R) vs.Ayyadurai(R) vs.Kennedy(D) vs.Liss-Riordan(D)
ME: Collins(R,incumbent) vs.Gideon(D) vs.Sweet(D) vs.Rice(D)
MI: Peters(D,incumbent) vs.James(R) vs.Squier(G)
MN: Smith(D,incumbent) vs.Lewis(R) vs.Overby(G) vs.Carlson(D)
MS: Hyde-Smith(R,incumbent) vs.Espy(D) vs.Bohren(D)
MT: Daines(R,incumbent) vs.Bullock(D) vs.Collins(D) vs.Driscoll(R) vs.Mues(D) vs.Geise(L)
NC: Tillis(R,incumbent) vs.Cunningham(D) vs.E.Smith(D) vs.S.Smith(R) vs.Tucker(R) vs.Mansfield(D)
NE: Sasse(R,incumbent) vs.Janicek(R)
NH: Shaheen(D,incumbent) vs.Messner(R) vs.Martin(D) vs.Bolduc(R) vs.O'Brien(R)
NJ: Booker(D,incumbent) vs.Mehta(R) vs.Singh(R) vs.Meissner(R)
NM: Udall(D,retiring) vs.Lujan(D) vs.Ronchetti(R) vs.Walsh(L) vs.Clarkson(R) vs.Oliver(D) vs.Rich(R)
OK: Inhofe(R,incumbent) vs.Broyles(D) vs.Workman(D)
OR: Merkley(D,incumbent) vs.Perkins(R) vs.Romero(R)
RI: Reed(D,incumbent) vs.Waters(R)
SC: Graham(R,incumbent) vs.Harrison(D) vs.Tinubu(D)
SD: Rounds(R,incumbent) vs.Ahlers(D) vs.Borglum(R)
TN: Alexander(R,retiring) vs.Hagerty(R) vs.Bradshaw(D) vs.Sethi(R) vs.Mackler(D) vs.Crim(R)
TX: Cornyn(R,incumbent) vs.Hegar(D) vs.Hernandez(D) vs.Bell(D) vs.Ramirez(D) vs.West(D)
VA: Warner(D,incumbent) vs.Taylor(R) vs.Gade(R)
WV: Capito(R,incumbent) vs.Swearengin(D) vs.Ojeda(D)
WY: Enzi(R,retiring) vs.Lummis(R) vs.Ben-David(D) vs.Ludwig(D)
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Page last updated: Nov 24, 2020