[StBernard] Boasso Unveils Health Care Reform Plan

[Westley Annis]

Boasso Unveils Health Care Reform for Louisiana Families

Focuses on Ensuring Access to Affordable, Quality Care for All Louisianans;
Provides Prescription Drug Assistance to Seniors; Places Emphasis on Primary
and Preventive Care; and Strengths Our Charity Hospital System   

For Immediate Release                                            

 September 25, 2007

Baton Rouge:  Pledging to ensure that every Louisiana citizen has access to
affordable, quality health care, State Senator Walter Boasso (D-Arabi),
Democratic candidate for Governor, today unveiled his Health Care Reform
plan for Louisiana families.  

Boasso is proposing several initiatives to ensure that every citizen has an
insurance policy and is provided top-quality care.  Those initiatives
include: 

.         Providing every Louisiana citizen without insurance a health care
policy by using uncompensated care funding coupled with best practices for
serving the patient

.         Supporting and expanding the LaCHIP program for uninsured children
and streamline the bureaucratic process to enroll children into LaCHIP;

.          Providing options to cover more small businesses and the
self-employed;

.         Adopting "medical home" networks;

"Louisiana citizens deserve access to quality, affordable health care,"
Boasso said.  "As governor, I intend to make sure they finally receive it." 

In addition to access, Boasso proposed to save and strengthen our Charity
hospital system for the 21st Century.

"Our Charity hospitals are a critical component of our health care system in
Louisiana," Boasso said.  "For far too long, they've been ignored and have
been allowed to suffer.   I will strengthen the Charity hospital system and
make our Charity hospitals top-notch health care facilities."

Boasso also will work to lower the cost of prescription drugs by instituting
a state pharmaceutical assistance program for seniors through a discount
program for non-Medicaid patients.

"Our seniors deserve lower prescription drug prices," Boasso said.  "As
governor I will fight to make medicine more affordable for Louisiana
seniors," Boasso said. 

Boasso also pledged to push to lower the disparities in our health care
system in the state by expanding the Nurse-Family Partnership model that is
currently serving over 25 Louisiana parishes.  This partnership focuses on
prenatal and early childhood in-home assistance by nurses in economically
struggling and at-risk families.   

"We have to create a culture that puts health care at the center of our
citizen's life," Boasso said. "By  focusing on pre-natal and preventive care
we will not just create a healthier Louisiana but we will create an
efficient health care system that catches health issues early and save money
in the long run." 

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