Dr. Sapan Shah: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: LibertyvilleWebsite: drshahforcongress.comTwitter: @drsapanshahFacebook: www.facebook.com/drsapanshahOffice sought: 10th District U.S. Representative Age: 37Family: Married to Dr. Rachna ShahOccupation: Senior VP, Flagship Healthcare/ GCGEducation: BA (Magna Cum Laude), JD MD from Case Western Reserve UniversityCivic involvement: Membership Chair for Hyde Park Angels Board of Advisors for Burke Medical Research Institute Member of Hindu TempleElected offices held: NoneQuestions Answers What do you think is the government's responsibility in assuring that citizens have health care? To what extent does the Affordable Care Act address this responsibility? What, if any, changes are needed in the act.We need to reduce medical costs and heal our broken health care system, making it more affordable for Americans to obtain health insurance coverage and afford their medical care. Americans demand, and deserve, the best medical care in the world. As a doctor who has spent his entire adult life in and around the medical field, I am uniquely qualified to address the health care crisis we find ourselves in today. It's time we reduced health care costs by reducing medical costs overall. We need to embrace and support competition and transparency in health care. This puts individuals back in charge of their own health by giving them optionsÃâ#128;~empowering individuals over government. We need to support independent physicians, hospitals and entrepreneurs that want to innovate to help patients reduce healthcare costs. Also, Americans should be free to choose affordable insurance plans from anywhere in the country that meets the needs of their families. Fostering greater insurance company competition on top of greater consumerism in healthcare will compound cost savings for patients in our district. Medical costs will go down further with common sense legal reform that recognizes the complexity of medicine and unique expectations of modern healthcare. Fostering a climate that is not so negative towards doctors and hospitals will reduce repetitive testing and decrease indemnification costs. While our current system is lucrative for trial lawyers, it is overly burdensome to the medical field and leads to significantly higher medical costs.What immigration policies do you support? Where, if at all, do you see room for compromise to produce an effective policy on immigration? What, if any, responsibility does the government have toward immigrants referred to as Dreamers who were brought to the United States illegally as children and are now adults? How will these policies affect your district?America is the greatest country in the world and will continue to offer great economic opportunities not available in other countries, resulting in a strong desire from good people in those countries to come here. However, we must insist on legal immigration and controlled entry to preserve our security as well as resources. My parents immigrated to America legally before I was born in Waukegan. Other members of my extended family waited patiently in line to immigrate legally per American immigration laws and quotas. I believe we need to do everything we can to curb illegal immigration, as a nation has the sovereign right to control who enters its territory, both for national security and independence. I believe DACA recipients are a unique category in that they were minors when they were brought to this country illegally. We have to acknowledge that minors do not have the same culpability as adults and cannot be liable for the actions of their parents or guardians. We must resolve the status question for Dreamers independent of other illegal immigrants.What military or diplomatic roles should the United States play to promote peace and stability in the Mideast? Under what circumstances should we have military forces actively operating?Congressman Schneider continues to support the disastrous Iran deal, even endorsing an Illinois gubernatorial candidate with an extreme anti-Israel running mate. We must rally around our ally Israel and make sure Iran does not become a nuclear power, which I believe means we need to revisit instituting sanctions. The United States should continue to support our longtime ally Israel to the fullest of our ability and we should strengthen sanctions against state sponsors of terrorism including Syria and Iran. An area not talked about enough is the need to continue to modernize our defense, as future threats are highly likely to be at least partially technological in nature. We can too often be stuck in the past in how we approach funding and prioritizing our defense. This is an area in which we have purportedly made some progress recently, but not nearly enoughÃâ#128;~it must be a major priority moving forward. Finally, U.S. military forces should only be used as a last resort or when American lives at a stake.What should the United States be doing to reduce the threat of potential nuclear conflict from North Korea?Our focus needs to be the safety of Americans. We need to continue to aggressively pursue sanctions against North Korea, support our ally South Korea, and pressure China to assist in the effort to keep North Korea in check. We also need to be consistent in our policy towards North Korea while avoiding directly engaging with Kim Jong Un, which only serves to prop him up and strengthen his regime. Only if North Korea harms American citizens should we pursue military action, but in such a case our response should be swift and unequivocal.How would you describe the effectiveness of Congress today? If you think Congress needs to be more effective, what would you do to promote that?I believe that government should be run by citizen legislators, not professional, career politicians. This is what our founding fathers had in mind, and the further we stray from this vision, the more dysfunctional our politics become. We need leaders with real world experience, who see firsthand the needs of their community, have taken risks, and have lived the day-to-day struggle of everyday Americans. Our elected officials need to remember that they are elected to serve us, not their own ambitions or the desires of their political party or special interests. In short, we need more regular people in Congress. People who serve for a short period of time and come back home to their regular lives. People with no vested interest in the position and no desire to accumulate power and wealth on the backs of the taxpayers. By sending such people to Congress, we end the partisan gridlock in Washington and finally get things done for the people. That is why I am running for Congress. I want to bring my real world experience and common sense to D.C., serve for a maximum of six years, and then pass the torch on to the next citizen legislator. I will champion term limits, ending the reign of career politicians and entrenched interests and putting the people back in charge of their government. While in Congress, I will continue the tradition of independent leadership for which the 10th District is famous, advocating for common sense solutions over partisan politics.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?We need to cut spending, reduce taxes, and support job creators. As a successful entrepreneur and small business owner, I have experienced the impact that government policies have on businesses and the lives of everyday people. And with my experience working with venture capitalists and angel investors, I have seen how entrepreneurs with big ideas can jumpstart a local economy. In our 10th District, I will be a leader that is pro-business and pro-competition. This district is unique, with some of the largest corporations in the world as well as small businesses and mom-and-pop shops. I will work in Washington to ensure a climate where more small businesses can be born and flourish in the world economy. I will fight to reduce taxes on families and businesses to energize our economy and improve our international competitiveness. With this economic growth will come more jobs for the hard-working people of the 10th District. That means better-paying jobs and more opportunities for professionals looking to progress in their careers, parents struggling to take care of their families, graduates looking for a place to put down their roots, and kids looking for their first job. We must also change our approach to budgeting and how we tax and spend. I will be a champion for common sense balanced budgets. I will change the discussion from spending amounts of money to spending percentages of total revenue. I will demand balanced budgets, spending caps, and a plan to finally begin reducing our massive national debt.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Pope FrancisWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?My parents are the epitome of service--they served their parents, families, children, temple, community and even strangers. From them I am inspired to serve.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I would have added the major of behavioral economics in college--I really enjoy the subject.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?I loved American, European and Art history which gave me a great framework for government and society. Constitutional Law supplemented this in law school.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?We are happiest in the service of others and in giving whatever we can.