Republican Presidential Candidates Discuss Health Care At Cancer Forum

Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 31 Aug 2007 - 19:00 PDT

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Presidential candidates Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) on Tuesday during the second day of a cancer forum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, discussed issues related to the disease and health care, the Denver Post reports (Denver Post, 8/28). At the forum, sponsored by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Brownback said that he would seek to increase federal funds for cancer research by as much as three times the current level of $6 billion as part of an effort to eliminate deaths from the disease in 10 years. Huckabee also said that he would seek to increase federal funds for cancer research (Schulte, Des Moines Register, 8/29).

In addition, Huckabee said that the U.S. health care system should focus more on preventive care and healthy lifestyles and that residents who receive food stamps should have more incentive to purchase healthier foods (Pearson, Chicago Tribune, 8/29).

Huckabee and Brownback differed on the implementation of smoking bans in public places. Huckabee said that he would support a federal smoking ban, but Brownback said that state and local governments should implement bans (Des Moines Register, 8/29).

Health Insurance Issues
On the issue of health insurance, Brownback said that he would allow U.S. residents to purchase coverage across state lines and expand the use of health savings accounts. He added that he would establish a program to allow residents to compare health insurer reimbursement rates by ZIP code and would equalize rates nationwide. In addition, he said that he would make the transfer of medical records less difficult.

Huckabee said that he would expand the use of HSAs and would reduce long-term care insurance costs (Des Moines Register graphic, 8/29). Both candidates also said that health insurance proposals offered by Democratic presidential candidates would prove less effective than proposals to improve the affordability of and access to private coverage (Chicago Tribune, 8/29).

The candidates made their comments during separate, televised interviews with seven-time Tour de France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball." No other Republican presidential candidates attended the forum (Des Moines Register, 8/29).

Romney on Cancer Research
Meanwhile, presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) on Tuesday at the 10th Annual Mission Conference of Susan G. Komen for the Cure said that he would increase federal funds for breast cancer research, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports.

At the conference, Romney said that "breast cancer, and cancer in general, are not getting their fair share" of federal funds for research. He added that he would "allocate money to research ... on a scientific basis -- not just a political basis."

Romney also cited the importance of cancer prevention and early detection, which he said would improve with the extension of health insurance to more U.S. residents. "I will fight to get every person in this country health insurance," he said (Fourier, AP/Long Island Newsday, 8/28).

Op-Ed Praises Kucinich on Health Care
Presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) "rarely gets much airtime in Democratic presidential debates," but he "deserves more attention than he gets" because he "says what Americans believe" about health care, "even as his rivals rake in contributions from the industry," Boston Globe columnist Derrick Jackson writes in an opinion piece. According to Jackson, recent polls indicate that a majority of U.S. residents support a national health care system, regardless of whether such a system would require higher taxes, and believe the federal government should provide coverage to all residents.

He writes that, although Kucinich has proposed a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, the major presidential candidates have proposed more incremental plans. The "hold of the health care industry" on the major presidential candidates "is already apparent" based on the campaign contributions that they have received from health insurers, health care professionals and pharmaceutical companies, Jackson writes (Jackson, Boston Globe, 8/29).

Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "All Things Considered" on Tuesday reported on the issue of health care in the 2008 presidential election. The segment includes comments from Dana Goldman, a public policy expert at RAND, and presidential candidates Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Kucinich (Horsley, "All Things Considered," NPR, 8/28). Audio of the segment and NPR summaries of the health insurance proposals of the candidates are available online.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.