Washington Post Examines Positions Of Major Presidential Candidates On Health Care Issues

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 13 Feb 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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The Washington Post on Tuesday examined the positions of the major presidential candidates on several health care issues.

According to the Post, health care proposals from Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) would provide U.S. residents with a "menu of insurance choices similar to those available" through the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program, and plans from Republican candidates former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) would "deregulate insurers, arguing that a free market will reduce costs and boost quality." All of the candidates have said that the use of technology, such as electronic health records, and an increased focus on disease prevention and chronic care would reduce health care costs.

The Post also examined whether each candidate would: expand health insurance to all residents; require employers to offer coverage to employees; help residents purchase individual coverage; allow the federal government to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies under Medicare; allow prescription drug reimportation; and expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. According to the Post, "We report candidates' stated positions, not what they'll do if elected. Underlying the health care debate is the matter of cost."

The article also includes an interactive graphic illustrating where the candidates stand on health issues (Stoltz, Washington Post, 2/12).

Analysis
The "singular difference" between the health care proposals from Clinton and Obama is whether they would require all residents to obtain health insurance, and that difference has "offered clues to the different governing style" each candidate "would bring to the White House," according to The Politico. "Clinton's call for mandatory insurance coverage is as much a negotiating position as a sweeping policy goal" and "recognizes from the outset the deep divides in Washington and the powerful influence of health industry lobbyists," The Politico reports. Many Republicans would oppose her proposal, and, for "success, the New York senator likely would need to strongly unite the Senate and House Democratic caucuses ... under an intense lobbying campaign," according to The Politico.

"Obama's approach would be more of a herding strategy," based on the "widely held ... conclusion that health care reform must be done incrementally," The Politico reports. His proposal would have some "allure for moderate Republicans but could draw criticism from Democrats," who favor an expansion of health insurance to all residents, The Politico reports, adding, "The health insurance lobby could also be divided on his proposal: supportive of encouraging new customers while opposing his mandate for coverage of children."

According to The Politico, "As voters ponder their choices," a "key tipping point could be" which candidate they believe "has adopted the best approach for making progress" on health care, "one of the hottest domestic policy issues in the campaign" (Cummings, The Politico, 2/12).

Opinion Piece
Most presidential candidates "aren't spending nearly enough time talking about chronic disease," and, "unless the next president addresses the issue seriously," his or her health care proposals "seem destined to failure," Former Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a physician and former Senate majority leader, and Dan Crippen, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, write in a Miami Herald opinion piece.

According to the authors, chronic diseases "cause more than 60% of deaths around the country" and "consume more than 70% of our health care budget." They add, "Any candidate who wants to succeed" should "promote personal responsibility, focus government programs on these diseases" and "encourage private insurers to take chronic disease seriously." The authors write that Medicare "needs to begin by compensating physicians for diagnostic services and medical management," adding that SCHIP makes "almost no systematic effort to prevent chronic diseases in childhood."

In addition, Congress should pass legislation to "bring health information technology into the modern era," and candidates should "consider tax credits, grants and mandates to encourage private insurance companies to take chronic diseases seriously," according to the authors (Frist/Crippen, Miami Herald, 2/12).

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