Where do Stauber, Radinovich stand on health care?

When it comes to health care, there are few things candidates Republican Pete Stauber and Democrat Joe Radinovich agree on.

Stauber has said he worries of an impending government takeover of the country's health systems. Radinovich has said it's wrong to use profit motives to drive health care. However, the one thing they agree on: Health care is important.

With reports of rising health care costs, concerns about opioid addiction and worries over a lack of funding for mental health services, there will be a lot to address when the winning candidate moves on to Washington, D.C.

So what ideas do the candidates running for the 8th Congressional District have moving forward?

For months, Pete Stauber has emphasized a need for a health care system that keeps decisions between patients and their doctors, calling it "patient-driven and physician-guided." He elaborated on that plan during the second debate with his opponent, saying to achieve that system while keeping prices low, the country should use private health care.

"It's the best way to lower costs," Stauber said. "You need to inject more market-based competition. That's good for the consumer."

Warning of a potential "full-blown government takeover of health care," he said governmental health care would limit options to patients.

Radinovich has said his No. 1 focus is on protecting things such as Medicare. He also has said it's immoral to use market-driven forces to determine health care. That's why he would like to implement a single-payer health care system.

"The basic problem with our health care system is, we have a broken and fragmented system where a lot of other countries have been able to get this right by having some sort of single-payer system," Radinovich said. "The result is, there are a lot of people making money off it that aren't providing care."

By creating access through the government, the system would plug those holes that drive up costs. However, the DFL candidate concedes his vision couldn't be executed with the current administration in office.

"The idea is, even if the Democrats take the House and the Senate, we're still going to be working with Donald Trump for the next two years," Radinovich said. "For me, it would seem unrealistic to get Donald Trump to support a single-payer health care system, based on the editorial that he wrote for USA Today."

In that editorial, the president stated a Democrat's plan to implement universal health care, also called "Medicare for All," would end Medicare for seniors.

Instead, Radinovich has advocated for engaging community members, experts and providers about what could help build support and awareness over the next two years. He would push for lowering the cost of prescription drugs by using the purchasing power of the government so drugs such as insulin, epi pens and asthma medicine would be affordable. Steps like those would institute a single-payer system in an incremental fashion.

Stauber's plan isn't without roadblocks of its own. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said 11.8 million Americans signed up for the Affordable Care Act in 2018. Reversing those numbers wouldn't be easy. Specific to a market-driven approach, more issues arise when it comes to rural health care. The National Rural Health Association believes a market-driven health care network would close rural hospitals.

"Our position, ultimately, is that market forces alone applied to the rural setting will close rural hospitals and related clinics nationwide," wrote Brock Slabach, the senior vice president for member services at the association in an email to the News Tribune. "Providers of care in rural areas should be thought of as a utility, much like rural electric, telephone and water."

Slabach said because the volume of people using rural hospitals isn't as high as those closer to cities, they are more vulnerable to market forces. In a follow-up response, his press secretary said Stauber prioritizes protecting health care services in rural facilities.

"He will put rural families first, and that is why he'll work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find common-sense solutions," Caroline Tarwid said.

Minnesota currently has 78 rural hospitals with a federal designation.

Radinovich and Stauber offer similar fixes to improve rural health care access. They have mentioned a need for increased emphasis on using more innovative solutions, such as expanding broadband access for telemedicine so patients can discuss symptoms with specialists who don't work at their local hospital.

Stauber expanded on that solution, saying loan forgiveness to nurses and doctors who commit to filling positions in rural hospitals plug the gap.

"Rural America matters," Stauber said. "It would be, in a sense, where there is a shortage of nurses and doctors, recruit them, and negotiate that reduction in student loans. Maybe they stay there for five years and hopefully fall in love with the place."

Both candidates have close connections regarding struggles with opioid addiction. Drawing on his experience as a former police officer, Stauber said he has witnessed the devastation that drug abuse brings upon families. While pleased with the Trump administration's financial commitment to treatment, Stauber said a stronger focus on preventive care would be needed.

"I think this is a big priority; it's nationwide, and we don't have the best answer right now," Stauber said. "But collectively in time, prevention is really, really important."

Radinovich said he would use a single-payer system to insert more services into schools, not just for opioid prevention, but mental health as well. Drawing parallels with his own experience of depression and suicide in his family, he said a person's ability to deal with daily struggles of addiction is tied to whether someone has good access to health care.

"I think that's the moral dimension to this," Radinovich said. "I think the reason we see more of this is because people are more aware of it, and more people are standing up and talking about the issue of depression and mental health and addiction in ways that are ultimately beneficial."