Health care is a national emergency. With costs skyrocketing out of control and families finding it harder and harder to pay for medical care and drugs, Don knows something must be done to fix our healthcare system. We must find a way to insure all citizens, especially our children.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau there are more than 1.3 million North Carolinians without health insurance. This isn't just a statistic, it's a tragedy. Too often these uninsured go without preventive care, and then wind up in the emergency room with severe health problems that can be painful, expensive to treat and that end up weakening the economy by the loss of workforce productivity.

A large number of the uninsured are working families who just can't afford healthcare coverage. Don believes the state should do more to improve the accessibility and affordability of health coverage. Several states are looking at innovative ways to extend affordable, quality healthcare coverage to working families. North Carolina should be a leader in healthcare reform.

Don doesn't believe our citizens should be penalized because Washington is broken. North Carolina has long been a forward-thinking leader, and Don believes we can lead on healthcare policy in the 21st Century.

Our health care system is broken when:

•  One in six North Carolinians don't have healthcare coverage.

•  75% of uninsured work for an employer who offers healthcare coverage, but they elect not to take it because they can't afford the high premiums.

•  The state Medicaid program has a poor record of accountability managing state tax dollars.

•  There are a lack of wellness programs, prevention efforts and chronic disease management in the Medicaid system.