Joe Jarvis
Candidate for: Utah House of Representatives district #24

Political party: Republican
Birth date: 3/29/54
Birth place: Tucson, Arizona
Current city of residence: Salt Lake City
Family members: Married to Annette W. Jarvis, Esq. (Shareholder at Ray, Quinney, and Nebeker); Four married Children: Ben (Katherine) Jarvis; Andrew (Diane) Jarvis; Hillary (Josh) Campos; Caitlin (Brian) Barker.  One daughter living at home—Margaret M. Jarvis; One grandson—Jairus J. Campos
Current occupation:  Physician
Education:  BA-Brigham Young University; MD-University of Utah; MSPH-University of Utah
Hobbies/Interests:  literature, classical music, Jazz basketball, occasional golf.  My serious avocation is health system reform.

1. Using 150 to 200 words, please state your reasons for running for office. What compels you to take on this responsibility? 
    
   I am volunteering for political duty in order to make meaningful health system reform more possible.
    
2. What do you consider to be the top three issues currently facing Utah?
    
   Please list them in order of priority to you (with #1 the most important) and explain why they are important to you and to Utah.  1) Health system reform: Americans spend more on health care than do the citizens of any other country.  Most of the money spent on health care is tax money, making Americans the most taxed citizens in the world for health care.  Despite the enormous outlay for health care ($2.3 trillion in 2008), Americans are least able in the developed world to prevent deaths in the population under age 75 which would be amenable to health care.  Clearly we are wasting our health resources.  What we waste on health care, we cannot spend on education, economic development, transportation, and environmental protection.  Health system waste is a cancer on our entire economy which kills patients and puts our entire nation at risk.  2) Education:  Every Utah is entitled to a public education and our leaders over the past several years have devoted much of the budget growth to education funding, yet we lag behind all other states in per pupil funding.  Meaningful health system reform will make more funds available for education.  In addition, more of the funds devoted to public education must actually reach the classroom.  3)  Environmental protection:  With a masters degree emphasizing environmental medicine, I am acutely aware of the effects of air pollution on our population.  We must continue to improve our control of exposure to airborne particulates.
    
3. What do you plan to do to address your top three issues?
    
   1) Health system reform:  Half of the money spent on health care is wasted, either as quality waste or inefficiency waste.  Examples of quality waste include a) a poor record of patient safety (preventable hospital-associated injury is the fifth leading cause of death in the US), b) a high rate of inappropriate care, such as back fusion surgery for uncomplicated degenerative disc disease, and c) not providing the correct intervention at the indicated time and place (Americans get the right care only about 55% of the time).  Examples of inefficiency waste include health underwriting (selecting only the healthiest for health insurance coverage), benefit denial bureaucracies (which force providers of care to increase billing departments efforts), and excess broker fees.  If elected, I will introduce comprehensive legislation which will eliminate inefficiency waste by changing the business model of the health financing system.  Quality waste will be attacked with a combination of public health (surveillance and intervention for patient safety failures) and insurance regulation (a uniform benefit package based upon clinical science) strategies.  2) Education:  Savings on health system waste will be primarily devoted to funding public and higher education.  We must adopt programs designed to assure that the principle objective for each level of education is met (reading success for primary grades, arithmetic success for grades 4-6, writing for grades 7-8, and college or trade preparation for high school).  I propose recruiting adults with training and experience to become tutors for students at all grade levels with modest salaries, supervised by teachers.  Such a program is already functioning at the high school level, funded federally. 3) I propose developing renewable energy resources through public-private investment (another use for savings through health system reform) and seriously considering nuclear power plants in Utah.
    
4. What are your most important accomplishments that would make you the most qualified candidate for office? 
    
   Medical training and experience has given me critical thinking and decision making skills.  I have experience at every level in our health system, from primary care in a community clinic to the highest level technical care in a specialty hospital.  I have been a public health leader at the state level and have federal public health experience.  I know our health system flaws intimately and will not be deflected from the real problems and their solutions by the opponents of meaningful health system reform.  In education, I have raised four children in public education settings in four states and five school districts.  I currently have a child in a private school.  As the at home parent for the past 15 years, I have had personal exposure to education settings.  Finally, my principle professional responsibilities for the past 20 years have been consulting in environmental health problems, including issues related to indoor air quality, community based exposure to uranium mining and milling byproducts, air pollution, leaking underground storage tanks, asbestos exposure, and many other issues.  I have published a number of scientific articles and given many invited presentations.  I have had clients from Guam to New York City and appeared many times as an expert witness.  I am prepared to deal with environmental issues on a scientific basis.
    
5. What skills, talents, and strengths do you have that enhance your ability to be an effective office holder? 
    
   As a family doctor, I am skilled in listening to and caring about the individual.  I have practiced integrating information from many sources in order to formulate a hypothesis (diagnosis) and test it.  I know when to ask for help from expert colleagues.  These skills and talents will readily translate to effective legislative activity.
    
6. Why do you belong to your political party? 
    
   I am a Republican because I believe that individual effort and responsibility is the foundation of economic success, both for the citizen and society.  I believe that government should be constrained and that fiscal responsibility is the hall mark of the best governments.  In keeping with that, I favor local over federal solutions.  Market forces generally regulate economies better than do central plans.  I strive to be free of identity politics, preferring to consider myself first and foremost as a blessed citizen of the United States, grateful for the opportunities thus afforded to me, and willing to sacrifice to afford future generations the same possibilities.