Why Sensenbrenner Must Be Defeated

Jim Sensenbrenner. Photo from the U.S. House of Representatives.

I entered the GOP race to replace Congressman Sensenbrenner because I am frustrated by the lack of a sensible approach to healthcare policy. The GOP primary is August 14 and I’m asking for your vote. A Vote for Vipond will be a vote to send a “Prescription for Change” to Washington, DC.

I respect the congressman’s decades of service, but for years Congress has issued policies to SHIFT rather than REDUCE healthcare costs. This has resulted in American families being crushed by out of control increases in the cost of care. We need sustainable healthcare policies now.

As a physician, I have practical solutions to reduce healthcare costs. I will work to develop a policy based on price transparency, consumer-driven price reduction, bundling of payments, expanded HSAs and population health systems.

With a fresh approach to healthcare delivery and billing, my employer has been able to reduce costs for Medicare patients by 28% while at the same time improving the quality of care. These are the healthcare changes we should be promoting at a federal level and we need physician guidance to ensure that the decisions made have input from a representative with a true understanding of what is happening to real people who need healthcare help.

In the last 10 years, I’ve seen very little meaningful legislation to combat the opioid epidemic. As a pediatrician I have seen the effects of the opioid epidemic in all of its ugly forms. I have had patients die of overdose. I have had patients left orphaned and in foster care. I have seen the struggles of grandparents and other family members who struggle to keep families together. I have seen children subjected to horrible abuse while their parents were incapacitated.

The ‘Ensuring Patient Access and Drug Enforcement Act of 2015,’ for example, supported by pharmaceutical companies and coincidentally passed unanimously by Congress, worsened the crisis and allowed huge shipments of pain pills to flood small town America. Bills that offer hope are grossly underfunded. Clearly we need an experienced physician rather than special-interest-funded lawyers to address this problem.

I will not be a career politician and do not have or need the baggage of special-interest support. I will be working for the American people and specifically for the people of District 5. I will take a break from my practice for a maximum of six years to work toward these and several other goals including workforce development and school safety.

Dr. Jennifer Hoppe Vipond was born and raised in Wauwatosa in Wisconsin’s fifth district, and has
practiced as a pediatrician in Waukesha County for over 25 years.