SC Dem Sen candidate Dr. Andrews shares medical & policy views.

What this episode covers

Full Transcript Charlie James: All right, welcome back to the program. Let's go to the phones and welcome Dr. Annie Andrews, a Democratic candidate for Senate here in South Carolina. Dr. Andrews, welcome to the program. Hope you're doing well. Dr. Annie Andrews: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Charlie James: We have not had a Democratic candidate here in South Carolina since 2005. That's been 21 years. Fritz Hollings was the last. Why did you get into this race? Dr. Annie Andrews: Well, I spent about 15 years working at the children's hospital down here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and day after day, I started to witness the problems, the policy problems that my patients and their families were facing. And I knew we had systemic solutions to these problems, but we just need to elect leaders who inherently care about doing what's best for South Carolina's kids and families. And so I decided to jump headfirst into politics when I decided to run for Congress back in 2022. And now I've been in this race for this U.S. Senate seat since about a year ago. Charlie James: So, was this a personal decision, or did—were you recruited by anyone? Dr. Annie Andrews: Oh, it was definitely a personal decision. Um, I was motivated to do this to, as I said, solve my patients' and their families' problems, to address our cost-of-living emergency, and fix our broken healthcare system. Charlie James: So, um, you said in your video that you released after Lindsey Graham's death that we in South Carolina have a lot more in common than we have differences. Uh, what do we have in common, the Republicans and the Democrats here in South Carolina? Dr. Annie Andrews: I mean, our—our shared humanity, first and foremost. And, you know, I spend a lot of time talking to fellow parents—I'm a mom of three public school kids myself—I also talk to the parents of my patients. Every parent, every grandparent across the state of South Carolina wants what is best for their children and their grandchildren. And we can agree that, you know, that we—if we just have open discussions, if we remember what it's like to compromise, to work across the aisle, if we stop retreating to our partisan corners, we can start achieving what we need to achieve in Columbia and in Washington, D.C., so that we can deliver results for South Carolinians. Everyone in South Carolina wants lower gas prices, and lower grocery prices, and fewer potholes on the roads. They want high-quality public schools for their kids, and they want access to quality, affordable healthcare. We are—we all share those goals. We just—our leaders spend too much time arguing in Washington, D.C., and in Columbia, and then they run out of time to actually solve these problems. Charlie James: As a physician, um, do you believe we have a healthcare system problem, or do we have a health insurance problem? Dr. Annie Andrews: Oh, that's an interesting way to frame that question. What I've witnessed over my 20-year career is that our system is far too motivated by profits and not centered on what is best for patients. I have dealt with so many parents trying to navigate a convoluted healthcare system, trying to find a pediatric subspecialist for their child who has a GI problem, or an autoimmune problem, or an infectious disease problem, and the wait times are too long. Parents who can't find mental health resources for their kids. Parents who can't afford their children's prescription drugs. And the system is just not working. And I think we can all agree on that. Now, where we tend to disagree is on how we fix it. But I think first we need to recognize that we all agree that it isn't meeting the needs of the majority of Americans. Charlie James: Do you support Medicare for All? Dr. Annie Andrews: I believe we need to build a healthcare system that meets the needs of everyone in this country. But I don't have a magic wand, and we're not going to shift to this profit-motivated system that ...

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