Healthcare Should Be About Patients, Not Politics

I have spent most of my career working in healthcare. I have also experienced the system from the other side, as a patient who was told I had cancer.

I know how quickly a health problem can become an emotional and financial crisis for an entire family.

Healthcare should make people more secure. Too often, it does the opposite.

Families worry about premiums, deductibles, prescription costs, finding a provider who takes their insurance, getting an appointment when they need one, or whether an insurance company will approve the care their doctor recommends.

I believe healthcare decisions should be made by patients and the healthcare professionals they trust—not politicians, insurance companies, or corporate executives.

Care People Can Actually Access

Having insurance does not help much if you cannot find a provider, cannot afford the deductible, or have to wait months for an appointment.

We need to make physical and mental healthcare easier to access, strengthen the healthcare workforce, reduce unnecessary barriers to care, and make sure insurance networks are real, not just lists of providers who are not accepting patients.

I also support telehealth because I have seen firsthand how effective it can be.

In my own psychology practice, telehealth allows me to work with people who might otherwise struggle to get care because of distance, schedules, mobility, or other barriers. When it works for the patient and provider, we should preserve that flexibility.

Mental Health Is Healthcare

As a psychologist, I have spent my career helping people through some of the hardest moments of their lives.

Mental healthcare should not be treated as optional or secondary.

People should be able to get help before they reach a crisis. That means improving access to therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, addiction treatment, school-based services, and crisis care.

It also means holding insurers accountable when mental-health coverage exists on paper but patients cannot actually use it.

Mental health affects families, schools, workplaces, public safety, and our entire healthcare system. Investing in prevention and early treatment is better for people and often less expensive than waiting until someone is in crisis.

Protecting Medical Privacy and Reproductive Freedom

My view is straightforward: politicians should not be making private medical decisions for patients.

That includes reproductive healthcare.

I am strongly pro-choice. I believe a woman has the right to make decisions about her own body and her own healthcare.

For me, that belief is also personal. I was adopted, and I have thought a lot about the fact that my birth mother did not have the choices women have today. That does not make me less supportive of reproductive freedom. It makes me more aware of how complicated and personal these decisions can be.

Government should protect the right to make those decisions, not take it away.

Healthcare Should Not Trap People in a Job

When I started my own small business, one of the biggest considerations was health insurance.

I was fortunate. My wife has good health insurance through her union job, so I was able to take the risk of starting a practice.

Without that coverage, I probably could not have done it.

That tells us something important about our healthcare system.

People should not have to stay in a job they dislike because they are afraid of losing insurance. They should not have to give up on starting a business, changing careers, or working for themselves because healthcare is unaffordable.

Making healthcare more affordable and portable does not just help patients. It helps entrepreneurship, small businesses, and our economy.

Holding Insurance Companies Accountable

Doctors and patients should not spend hours fighting an insurance company to get care approved.

Insurers should be required to provide clear information, maintain adequate provider networks, respond promptly, and explain denials in ways people can understand.

When a doctor believes a treatment is medically necessary, an insurance company should not be able to create endless administrative barriers simply to avoid paying for care.

Healthcare policy should be designed around better health—not around making the system harder to navigate.

A Healthier, More Secure Minnesota

I want every family in Carver County to know that if someone gets sick, they can get the care they need without wondering whether it will destroy their finances.

I want people to be able to find mental-health care before they reach a crisis.

I want doctors and patients, not politicians, to make medical decisions.

And I want people to have the freedom to start businesses, change jobs, and build their lives without being trapped by health insurance.

I have spent my career helping people navigate difficult moments.

As your state senator, I will bring that same focus to making healthcare more accessible, more affordable, and more responsive to the people it is supposed to serve.