Next President Likely To Allow Prescription Drug Reimportation, Expand Health Benefits For Veterans, Wall Street Journal Reports

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Pharmacy / Pharmacist;  Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 15 Feb 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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All of the three major presidential candidates likely would "push through major changes in policy," such as proposals to allow reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada and expand health benefits for veterans, the Wall Street Journal reports. Democratic candidates Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican candidate Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) all support proposals that would allow the federal government to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies under the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

All three candidates also have expressed support for proposals to expand income eligibility requirements for veterans who seek health benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, all three candidates support proposals to expand federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (Frangos, Wall Street Journal, 2/14).

Obama Announces Economic Package
In an address in Wisconsin on Wednesday, Obama announced a comprehensive economic package that includes his proposal to expand health insurance. Obama said that he would fund the proposal, which seeks to help families and individuals who cannot afford their medical bills and have concerns about job security, in large part through the repeal of tax cuts for the higher-income households and the end of the war in Iraq (Murray/Phillips, Wall Street Journal, 2/14).

Clinton Ads Criticize Obama on Health Care
Clinton on Wednesday began to air two television advertisements in Wisconsin that criticize the Obama health care proposal, which would not require that all residents obtain health insurance, a requirement included in her plan.

In one ad, titled "Obligation," an announcer says that Clinton "fought for universal health care, long before it was popular," provided "health insurance for six million kids and expanded access to health care for the National Guard." The ad continues, "Now, she's the only candidate for president with a plan to provide health care for every American." The ad also quotes New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, who called the Clinton proposal the "difference between achieving universal health coverage and falling far short." The ad concludes, "If you believe health care is America's moral obligation, join her Tuesday."

The second ad, titled "Debate," indicates that Obama has refused to participate in a debate at Marquette University in part because he would have to explain why Clinton has proposed the "only health care plan that covers every American." In an e-mail response to the ad, Obama campaign spokesperson Bill Burton wrote that Clinton and Obama have agreed to two other debates in the next three weeks and that the ad will not help expand health insurance to all residents or implement other proposals (Alexovich, "The Caucus," New York Times, 2/13).

Meanwhile, during a speech on Wednesday at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, Texas, Clinton said, "I'm the only candidate left in this race who is willing to work toward universal health care because I don't want to leave anybody out." She added, "A plan that fails to provide universal health care ... will not turn the economy around and provide the real relief that our people need" (Fikac, Houston Chronicle, 2/13).

Opinion Pieces
Summaries of two opinion pieces that address health care issues in the presidential election appear below.

• Maine state Rep. Jill Conover (D), Bangor Daily News: The Clinton health care proposal is the "only plan of the presidential candidates" that "achieves universal health care to provide health security for every American," Conover writes in a Daily News opinion piece. According to Conover, the proposal would "lower costs, improve quality, cover everyone and provide all of us with more meaningful health care choices." She adds, "Leading health care economists" have said that the proposal would expand health insurance to "almost twice as many" residents as the Obama plan, "with only a slightly higher investment." The Clinton proposal "does not create a single new government department and agency" and would provide health insurance that is "accessible ... affordable ... guaranteed" and "portable" through "shared responsibility," Conover writes. She adds, "It is time for our country to achieve health care for all," and "I trust that Clinton, who has the knowledge and experience to accomplish real change, is the leader who is up to the task" (Conover, Bangor Daily News, 2/13).
  
  
• Gary Andres, Washington Times: Clinton "still seems to wince when reminded" of her "colossal legislative failure" on health care in the 1990s, but she "continues the quest with an Ahab-like obsession, trying to conquer a whale called health care reform," Times columnist Andres writes. He adds that, "despite her reassuring rhetoric" that her health care proposal is not a "government takeover" and contains no "new bureaucracy," Clinton proposes to "use the heavy hand of government" to require all residents to obtain health insurance. Her "near-religious zeal to force universal coverage strikes some as odd," Andres writes, adding, "Why compel someone to buy something he or she can't afford?" According to Andres, the "financial penalties for those who fail to purchase insurance ... stirs significant opposition," and Clinton "opened a political can of worms" when she said that she might seek to garnish the wages of residents who can afford health insurance but do not obtain coverage. "Improving health care is a salient bread-and-butter election issue this year," Andres writes, adding, "Compelling everyone to buy a product, whether he wants it or not ... sounds more like a mandate for defeat than a promise of political success" (Andres, Washington Times, 2/14).

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.