Hillary 2016: 6 key stances on health care
April 13, 2015 9:30 AM
Overview:
On Sunday Hillary Clinton announced she will seek the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. No stranger to the political arena, the 2016 presidential candidate has had a long history with health care reform and recently championed the Affordable Care Act. Heres a history of some of her thoughts on health care and those of her Republican opponents:
HillaryCare
President Bill Clinton in 1993 appointed Hillary Clinton to lead the Task Force on National Health Care Reform, which was tasked with creating a comprehensive plan to provide universal health care for all Americans. Its Health Security Act, dubbed HillaryCare, ultimately failed.
I am disappointed we were not able to make more progress. She says. Now Im from the school of smaller steps, but I believe we must continue to make progress. Its still important that we increase access to quality health care for working families. Source: www.hillary2000.org About Hillary , Jan 1, 2000
I am disappointed we were not able to make more progress. She says. Now Im from the school of smaller steps, but I believe we must continue to make progress. Its still important that we increase access to quality health care for working families. Source: www.hillary2000.org About Hillary , Jan 1, 2000
Universal Health Care
The whole idea of universal health care is such a core Democratic principle that I am willing to go to the mat for it. Ive been there before. I will be there again. I am not giving in; I am not giving up; and Im not going to start out leaving 15 million Americans out of health care. at the 2008 Congressional Black Caucus Democratic debate, Jan 21, 2008
Generic drugs
I believe that our government must do so much more to get generic drugs and low-cost drugs to people suffering. . .We need to do much more to get our pharmaceutical companies to work with us to get the drug costs down and to open the pathway for generic drugs. And thats going to take presidential leadership. I commend Pres. Bush for his PEPFAR initiative [Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief]. It was a bold & important commitment, but it didnt go far enough in opening up the door to generics and getting the costs down. And as president, I will do that. at the 2008 Democratic Compassion Forum at Messiah College
Childrens health-insurance program
When we werent successful with the overall reform, I moved ahead and was one of the people responsible for the childrens health-insurance program and trying to make sure drugs were safe for kids, and dealing with after effects the Gulf War veterans suffered. So, Ive stayed consistently focused on health care and am engaged right now in this battle with the president over his threatened veto of the childrens health-insurance program. But I learned, among other things, that weve got to build a consensus. A plan is necessary but not sufficient. Weve got to have a political consensus in order to withstand the enormous opposition from those interests that will have something to lose in a really reformed health-care system. during the Huffington Post Mash-Up: 2007 Democratic on-line debate
The Affordable Care Act and the concerns of small business owners
Part of the challenge is to clear away all the smoke and try to figure out what is working and what isnt. What do we need to do to try to fix this? Because it would be a great tragedy, in my opinion, to take away what has now been provided. at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in Orlando, Fla in February 2014
Health insurance
On a very personal, self-interested basis, you should have health insurance to protect yourself and your families from unpredictable costs that none of us know will be striking whenever. You cant sit here today and tell me for sure you wont have a car accident, you wont have a slip or a fall, you wont have some kind of disease that you never thought youd ever be stricken by. at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society conference in Orlando, Fla in February 2014
Rand Paul on health care
Paul, who has announced he is seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2016 is in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act. Following the Supreme Court decision which upheld the constitutionality of most of the ACA, Paul released a statement saying, "Just because a couple people on the Supreme Court declare something to be 'constitutional' does not make it so. The whole thing remains unconstitutional."
Ted Cruz on the ACA
Cruz is also seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2016. During a 2014 Face the Nation interview on his presidential aspirations, he said: In terms of whether we should have stood and fought on ObamaCare, I think the proof is in the pudding. Millions of people across the country have seen why we were standing and fighting because ObamaCare is a disaster. Five million Americans all across this country had their health insurance canceled because of ObamaCare. [Obama should] look in the camera and say, I'm sorry. I told you if you like your health insurance plan you can keep it. I told you if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor and that wasn't true. But then, here is the real kicker, if you are really sorry, you actually do something to fix the problem. The pattern we've seen over and over again with this president is he says he's sorry, expresses outrage then doesn't fix the problem, he keeps doing it over and over.
Bloomberg News
Marco Rubios goals for health care
Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida, is expected to announce his 2016 presidential candidacy today. According to his website, he feels the government should propose common sense, free-market ideas to make health care more accessible and affordable. Senator Rubio will focus on three goals: repealing and replacing the ACA; allowing individuals to control their own health care choices; and returning control of health policy to the states, the website says.
