More headlines: John Edwards on Health Care
(Following are older quotations. Click here for main quotations.)
Bush has no plan to address the health care crisis
Rising health care costs have forced businesses to slow hiring and shift jobs to part-time and temporary workers, many of whom lack health insurance. Yet Bush has no plan to address any of these challenges. The few proposals he has offered
would actually make the health care crisis worse by further dividing the system between one that is affordable for the healthy and wealthy, and one that is unaffordable for the elderly, the sick, and increasingly, for America’s broad middle class.
Source: [X-ref Kerry] Our Plan For America , p. 99
Aug 10, 2004
Provide a real patients’ bill of rights
We can build one America where we no longer have two health care systems: one for families who get the best health care money can by, then one for everybody else rationed out by drug companies & HMOs. Millions of Americans have no health coverage at all.
It doesn’t have to be that way. We have a plan that will offer all Americans the same health care that your senator has. And when we’re in office, we will sign a real patients’ bill of rights into law so that you can make your own health care decisions.
Source: Acceptance speech to the Democratic National Convention
Jul 28, 2004
A new system to prevent malpractice insurance hikes
Q: Shouldn’t there be some kind of new system so that physicians can afford malpractice insurance? A: What we should do is put a system in place to keep cases that don’t belong in the system out of the system. Require the lawyers to have these cases
investigated and reviewed by independent experts to determine that they’re serious and that they’re meritorious. Require the lawyer to certify that before the case can even be brought into the legal system. And hold the lawyer accountable.
Source: Democratic 2004 primary Debate in Greenville SC
Jan 29, 2004
Bush’s Rx plan helps HMOs-help seniors instead
Q: How, if at all, would you change the new prescription drug benefit for the elderly?A: When I am president, we will write a prescription drug bill for the American people -- a law that benefits seniors not the HMOs and insurance companies.
We will bring drug costs down by allowing reimportation, stopping wasteful and misleading drug advertising, and using the government’s purchasing power. And we will give seniors a better, more secure drug benefit.
Source: Associated Press policy Q&A, “Medicare”
Jan 25, 2004
Children First: insure every child, by law
I start with a very simple idea: children first. I will make sure that every child is covered, and I’ll do it the only way you can, by making it the law of the land. I’m going to ask responsibility from everybody. Responsibility for the parents make
sure their kids are covered. Responsibility from the government to make sure that they can pay for it. And responsibility from big HMOs and drug companies, to bring the cost down. And if they won’t accept responsibility, we will hold them responsible.
Source: Democratic Primary Debate, Albuquerque New Mexico
Sep 4, 2003
Gephardt’s plan gives working people’s money to corporations
Q: In April, Gephardt put out a plan to cover 97% of Americans. He doubles the tax deduction to employers, and pays for it by repealing almost all of the Bush tax cut.EDWARDS: All of us are for universal health care. What I differ with is taking
almost $1 trillion out of the pocket of working families making $30-$40,000 a year, giving it to the biggest corporations in America who are already providing health insurance, and not insuring another additional American. That’s taking money that people
desperately need, giving it to the very people that we’ve had trouble with. It feels like saying, ‘You’re in good hands with Enron.’
GEPHARDT: He’s wrong on my plan. People get their health insurance from corporations. My plan requires every company
who gets the 60% credit to pass it along to their employees and to offer their employees plans. This is not helping the corporations, this is helping corporations give people the thing they most need, which is health insurance.
Source: [X-ref from Gephardt] Democratic Debate in Columbia SC
May 3, 2003
Page last updated: Feb 08, 2010