Candidates on Affordable Health Care

We believe all Americans should have access to affordable health care, including prescription drugs, and these costs should not burden future generations.

The bolded candidate is listed first, then the statement we identified for the candidate. In some cases, we may not have identified a statement for the Divided We Fail principle listed above.

Republicans

Mike Huckabee

"We can make health care more affordable by reforming medical liability; adopting electronic record keeping; making health insurance more portable from one job to another; expanding health savings accounts to everyone, not just those with high deductibles; and making health insurance tax deductible for individuals and families as it now is for businesses. Low income families would get tax credits instead of deductions. We don't need all the government controls that would inevitably come with universal health care…As President I will…lead a complete overhaul of our health care system, not more of the same, paid for by Uncle Sam at the expense of hard-working families..."
(Campaign website, October 2, 2007) http://www.mikehuckabee.com/index.cfm...

John McCain

• …We can and must provide access to health care for all our citizens…
• Allow individuals to get insurance through any organization or association that they choose: employers, individual purchases, churches, professional association, and so forth. These policies will be available to small businesses and the self-employed, will be portable across all jobs, and will automatically bridge the time between retirement and Medicare eligibility.
• Families should be able to purchase health insurance nationwide, across state lines…
• Reform the tax code to eliminate the bias toward employer-sponsored health insurance, and provide all individuals with a $2,500 tax credit ($5,000 for families) to increase incentives for insurance coverage. Individuals owning innovative multi-year policies that cost less than the full credit can deposit remainder in expanded health savings accounts.

(Campaign website, October 12, 2007) http://www.johnmccain.com/Info...27cf.htm

Ron Paul

"So what we need to do is… medical savings accounts…. [L]egalize freedom of choice. That is, get people an ability to put money aside and get it back from their taxes, a tax credit. If they don't spend the money, they get to keep it. So the incentive is to spend less…. If you allow the patient to make the decision, he can pick and choose his doctor; he can pick and choose the type of medicine…."
(http://www.expertvoter.org/PlayVideo.asp?VideoID=167)

"Congress must remove bureaucratic regulations that prevent America's seniors from enjoying lower prices available from Internet and foreign pharmacies. The key to lowering drug prices is to create a true, competitive free market for prescription drugs."
("Congress Must Work for Seniors," Texas Straight Talk, A Weekly Column, September 18, 2000)

Mitt Romney

Governor Romney Proposed Six Concrete Steps To Reach His Health Care Reform Goals:

• Step 1: Establish Federal Incentives To Deregulate And Reform State Health Insurance Markets So Market Forces Can Work.
• Step 2: Redirect Federal Spending On "Free Care" To Help The Low-Income Uninsured Purchase Private Insurance.
• Step 3: Institute Health Savings Account (HSA) Enhancements And The Full Deductibility Of Qualified Medical Expenses.
• Step 4: Promote Innovation In Medicaid.
• Step 5: Implement Medical Liability Reform.
• Step 6: Bring Market Dynamics And Modern Technology To Health Care.

(Campaign website, October 2, 2007) http://www.mittromney.com/News/...Health_Care

Democrats

Hillary Clinton

Hillary's American Health Choices Plan covers all Americans and improves health care by lowering costs and improving quality… It puts the consumer in the driver's seat by offering more choices and lowering costs. If you're one of the tens of million Americans without coverage or if you don't like the coverage you have, you will have a choice of plans…and that coverage will be affordable…if you like the plan you have, you can keep it.

• Affordable: … The plan provides tax credits for working families to help them cover their costs.
• Available: … The insurance companies can't deny you coverage if you have a pre-existing condition.
• Reliable: It's portable. If you change or lose your job, you keep your health care.

(Campaign website, October 4, 2007, http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/healthcareplan/)

Barack Obama

My plan begins by covering every American. No one will be turned away because of a preexisting condition. . . . Everyone will be able buy into a new health insurance plan that's similar to the one that every federal employee [has]. If you cannot afford this insurance, you will receive a subsidy to pay for it... If you change jobs, your insurance will go with you. We will make generic drugs more available . . . and will tell the drug companies that their days of forcing affordable prescription drugs out of the market are over.

I have a universal health care plan that will…cut the cost of a typical family's premiums by up to $2500 a year.

(Speech in Iowa City, IA, 5/29/07; Speech in Washington, D.C., 6/19/07).

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