Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Features Recent Developments In 2008 Presidential Campaign

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP;  Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 22 Oct 2007 - 1:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Summaries of several recent developments in the presidential campaign related to health care appear below.

• Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.): Biden on Wednesday in an interview with the Sioux City Journal editorial board discussed his health care proposal. Biden said that the proposal would provide catastrophic health insurance, coverage for medical bills that exceed $50,000 for treatment of catastrophic conditions, to help reduce health care costs. In addition, the proposal also would allow U.S. residents to pay to participate in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program and allow residents ages 55 to 64 to pay to participate in Medicare, he said. According to Biden, he would finance the proposal through the elimination of tax cuts proposed by President Bush and approved by Congress for residents with annual incomes more than $435,000, a move that would provide $85 billion in additional revenue. Biden, who cited a "national social obligation" to expand access to health insurance as more employers drop coverage, said that health care reform can occur, provided that the changes are not "stark departures" from the current system. He added, "I don't want a whole new bureaucracy" (Hayworth, Sioux City Journal, 10/18).
  
  
• Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.): Clinton on Thursday at a forum organized by Families USA and the Federation of American Hospitals discussed her proposal to expand health insurance to all U.S. residents, CQ HealthBeat reports. Clinton called the proposal a "sensible, centrist" framework for health care reform and said she would "work out the details in consultation with Congress" during her first term as president (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 10/18). She said, "I have no illusions about how hard it is, but I think the country is ready for this. I believe we can get the consensus" (Kenen, Reuters, 10/18). Clinton also dismissed criticism of her proposal from Republicans that it would lead to "government-run health care" as "old, tired accusations" (Fouhy, AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/19). According to Clinton, the proposal would increase competition in the health care marketplace. She also said that the proposal would not provide health insurance for undocumented immigrants (CQ HealthBeat, 10/18). "People here legally deserve some better treatment and acceptance in the law than people who are not here legally," she said (AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/19). On the issue of Medicare, Clinton said that she would allow the federal government to negotiate prices directly with pharmaceutical companies under the prescription drug benefit and would seek to eliminate "inefficiencies and exorbitant" costs in the program (CQ HealthBeat, 10/18). Clinton also cited the need to address the issue of obesity (McAuliff, New York Daily News, 10/19). The forums organizers have invited all of the presidential candidates to participate. The Kaiser Family Foundation hosts the forums in its Barbara Jordan Conference Center in Washington, D.C. Kaiser is webcasting the forums live through kaisernetwork.org, its health policy news and information service. Susan Dentzer of PBS' "The News Hour With Jim Lehrer" will moderate the forums, and additional panelists will include journalists from NPR, Wall Street Journal and ABC News. Live and archived webcasts, as well as additional information about the forums, are available on a dedicated Web site, http://presidentialforums.health08.org. The forums are being funded by The California Endowment and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/25).
  
  
  A webcast of the forum is available online.
  
  
• Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.): Edwards on Thursday received an endorsement from the Massachusetts chapter of the Service Employees International Union, the 11th state chapter to endorse him, in part because of his record on health care, the AP/Newsday reports. Rocio Saenz, president of SEIU Local 615 in Boston, said, "John Edwards understands the everyday struggles of working families and without question John Edwards would be the best labor president in the history of the United States." Edwards said, "These workers have felt the negative impact of a broken system in Washington that is rigged against America's working families for far too long -- a system that is responsible for the millions of working Americans who still can't afford health insurance" (AP/Long Island Newsday, 10/18).
  
  
• Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R): Giuliani on Thursday at a Minnesota diner said that he agreed with the recent decision by Bush to veto a bill that would have reauthorized and expanded SCHIP, the AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press reports. He criticized the legislation as "part of a Democratic plan to get us as close to socialized medicine as they can" (Lohn, AP/St. Paul Pioneer Press, 10/18). Giuliani also called the bill a "treat with a big trick in it." In addition, he raised concerns that the bill would have prompted parents to enroll children who currently have private health insurance in SCHIP (Salisbury, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 10/18).

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.

• Additional
• References
• Citations