Cory Booker on Health Care Mayor of Newark; N.J. Senator; 2020 presidential contender (withdrawn)

Forbid charging more for drugs in U.S. than elsewhere

BOOKER: We're going to use Medicaid, Medicare to negotiate down prices, taking patents away from companies that unjustly raise their prices, creating a law that you cannot raise the price of drugs higher in this country than you're selling in others.

We cannot sacrifice progress for purity

As a person who has an ideal, I know we cannot sacrifice progress on the altar of purity, because people in my community, they need help right now. They have high blood pressure right now. They have unaffordable insulin right now.

We as Democrats can begin to show that we cannot only stake and stand our ground, but find common ground. And we cannot lose it by the way we talk about each other or demonize and degrade each other. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. If I am the leader, I will work towards the ideal of health insurance, health coverage being a right for all Americans. But every single day, I'll join with other Democrats to make progress happen in our nation for the people that are struggling and suffering today.

We spend multiple times what other countries do on health

Too many profiting off of people's pain

Health care is a right; public option is step towards goal

Support Medicare for All but do what's possible now

Public option is first step, negotiate lower drug prices

Medicare for all; start with commonsense reforms

Reduce Medicare eligibility to 55 from current age of 65

Allow importing prescription drugs to lower Rx prices

• In early January, Booker joined Sanders to sponsor a series of bills to lower the cost of prescription drugs by tying prices to other developed countries; allowing the importation of medication from Canada; and directing the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare.
• Two years earlier, Booker angered progressives when he voted against another Sanders-backed amendment to allow Americans to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
• At the time, Booker cited concerns about the safety standards of imported drugs.
• Booker, who represents a state with a large number of pharmaceutical companies, put a "pause" on campaign donations from the industry nearly two years ago after receiving criticism from Democrats. He later vowed to reject any corporate PAC contributions.

Backs Medicare-for-All

• Booker calls health care an "American right" and co-sponsored "Medicare for All" legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
• The government-run plan would be phased in over four years and end the private insurance market as it currently exists.
• It would be paid for by a tax on employers and increased taxes on capital gains and on incomes exceeding $250,000.
• Booker had previously defended the Affordable Care Act but stopped short of supporting a single-payer plan.

Ok to consider single-payer, but I'm not behind it

But while Sanders and progressive Democrats clamor for a more aggressive approach, some Senate Democrats expressed skepticism about the need to go that far, that quickly. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) wouldn't get behind a single-payer health care system, instead calling it "one of those options that must be considered" in an email to Vox.

Repealing ObamaCare hurts working-class

BOOKER: That would be great if they were coming with open hearts and saying, "hey, this is not perfect, let's fix it." Even before the Affordable Care Act, I was the mayor of a city dealing with health care costs. They were going up significantly. So don't put this all on this ACA. I don't think you will find a Democrat or Republican who wouldn't honestly tell you that things weren't perfect before. And what we're saying in the Democratic Party is, "let's build upon it, let's fix it."

Q: Don't you have an obligation to join Republicans and try to improve the bill?

BOOKER: That's really where we are. The Republicans cannot just force this down our throats. It's going to knock a lot of folks off, hurt long-term care, hurt good working-class folks. Their political strategy is bad politics. But, deeper than that, it is bad policy and bad process.

Repealing ObamaCare with no replacement just hurts Americans

BOOKER: The effort to repeal ObamaCare right now without a plan to replace it, this shouldn't be about politics. This is about real people in America who will be hurt immediately. The American Medical Association, which was against ObamaCare, says, "Don't repeal this without having a replacement plan." You have doctors' associations, nurses' associations, hospital associations all screaming, even some Republicans, "You're going to repeal this law & plunge many Americans into health crisis?" This is akin to shoving someone off a cliff and as they're falling down saying, "Don't worry. We're going to figure this out before you get to the bottom." And so my plan is very simple: Put up your plan. Show the American people. Donald Trump says, "we're going to have health care and it's going to be terrific". Well, show me what that is.

ObamaCare is a vital step in the right direction

• Health care costs are a factor in over 60 percent of bankruptcies;
• Millions of Americans exhaust their savings every year trying to cover medical expenses;
• Many people without insurance have been unable to get treatment.

In Newark, we know that investing up front can produce great gains in the long run, and that the opposite is equally and sadly true. As Mayor I did not wait for the federal government to improve health access for Newarkers.

ObamaCare needs to be improved, but is helping people now

Control healthcare cost; no comment on single-payer

One of the most contentious parts was over health insurance.
• Oliver and Pallone said they support a government-run insurance system but that it can't get passed now.
• Holt told them that their approach is "another way of saying we can only do things that we clear with the tea party."
• Booker called for controlling health care costs but avoided the single-payer debate.

We need a national solution and also local solutions

Newark Rx: affordable medications for uninsured Newarkers

I am truly pleased tonight to announce Newark Rx, to begin to combat the rising costs of prescription drugs. Newark Rx will create immediate access to affordable medications for thousands of uninsured Newark residents. Newark Rx is the creation of my office, Heinz Family Philanthropies, PhRMA, and other innovative partners. Several pharmaceutical manufacturers are contributing funding and donating free--FREE--medications for the uninsured. I know through the amazing work of Teresa Heinz and Jeff Lewis of Heinz Family Philanthropies that more partners will be added and more people who need medications will get them.I am honored tonight to be joined my friend, Chris Heinz, a member of one of America's leading political and philanthropic families.

Keep ObamaCare's prevention, treatment, & recovery services.

Excerpts from Letter from 20 Senators to President Trump: Repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with no clear plan for replacement will substantially worsen the opioid epidemic. Last year, Congress took important steps to address this national public health crisis, enacting two bipartisan laws to address the opioid epidemic and reform the way our health system treats mental health and substance use disorders.

The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act improved access to substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services. It promoted the use of best practices when prescribing opioid pain-killers, strengthening state prescription drug monitoring programs, and expanding access to the life-saving drug naloxone.

The 21st Century Cures Act also included critical mental health and substance use disorder reforms, strengthening enforcement of mental health parity laws, promoting the integration of physical and mental health care. Most importantly, the 21st Century Cures Act dedicated $1 billion in new grant funding, which will be essential to helping states provide prevention, treatment, and recovery services to patients These bipartisan advances will be fundamentally undermined by repeal of the ACA.

Opposing argument: (Warren, D-MA, in StatNews.com, 11/28/2016): Senator Elizabeth Warren railed against the 21st Century Cures, saying the bill had been "hijacked" by the pharmaceutical industry. "I cannot vote for this bill,'' Warren said. "I will fight it because I know the difference between compromise and extortion." The current legislation includes $500 million for the FDA, well below the amount Democrats had sought. Warren and Washington Senator Patty Murray have long argued that they would only support Cures legislation that included significant investment in basic medical research. While Warren said she supported many of the provisions, she called others "huge giveaways" to the drug industry.