ROBIN ON HEALTHCARE

As your Delegate, I will fight to provide quality affordable health-care for all Virginians. More than two decades ago, my son, Nicholas, was diagnosed with severe disabilities. The doctors told me that my son would not survive. As a young mother I fought to overcome the odds for my son. Later in life, I myself came down with a grave illness, and the doctors told me that I would not survive. During this time there was an outpouring of support from neighbors, friends, and even strangers who helped to make sure that as I was gone, my family would be protected from financial ruin.  And as I lay in my hospital bed I promised myself that if I ever got out I would dedicate my life to serving my community. I want to make sure that every Virginian has access to the best health-care that we can provide. I will fight for legislation that:

·         Focuses on prevention and wellness based public health programs

·         Reduces child obesity so we can stem the epidemic of juvenile diabetes

·         Provides resources for parents of disabled children

·         Requires insurance companies to treat autism fairly

·         Requires insurance companies to cover mammograms

·         Invests in long term care for our seniors

·         Invests in community-based mental health services

According to Families USA, approximately 2.1 million Virginians—31.4 percent of residents of our Commonwealth under age 65—were uninsured at some point in time during 2007-2008. Just under 208,000 of those uninsured are children, according to Kaiser State Health Facts. These are unquestionably alarming figures and Robin is dedicated to changing the way we provide health-care to the residents of Virginia.

As your Delegate, Robin will fight to provide all Virginians with the affordable health-care they deserve.  Robin believes that we have a moral obligation and a financial responsibility to ensure that every child in Virginia has health-care.  She will fight for legislation that expands access to health-care, focuses on prevention, maintains and expands the existing SCHIP program and FAMIS initiatives for our children, invests in long term care for our seniors, helps small businesses and invests in community-based mental health services.