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Mike Pence on Health Care
Republian nominee for Vice President; Governor of Indiana; former Representative (IN-6)
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ObamaCare is a state issue along with HHS, DOE, and housing
Q: Is ObamaCare is here to stay?PENCE: I think it's one of the choices here. My former running mate, Donald Trump, has a plan to consolidate more power in the executive branch.
When I'm president, it's my intention to make the federal government smaller by returning to the states those resources and programs that are rightfully theirs under Tenth Amendment of the Constitution.
That means all ObamaCare funding, all housing funding, all HHS funding, all of it goes back to the states. We'll shut down the federal Department of Education.
We'll allow states to innovate. We're going to revive federalism in America and states are going to help bring America back.
Source: Fox Business 2023 Republican primary debate in Simi Valley
, Sep 27, 2023
Minors with gender issues should wait until adulthood
It's proper for state governments and state officials to simply say, however adults want to live, they can live. But for children, we're going to protect kids from the radical gender ideology and say no chemical or surgical gender transition
before you're 18. I would tell them that I love everybody. I put my arm around them and their parents. But before they had a chemical or surgical procedure, I would say wait, just wait.
Source: CNN Town Hall: interviews of 2024 presidential candidates
, Jun 7, 2023
We're producing millions of vaccines; ready by end of year
HARRIS: On January 28th, the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. They were informed that it's lethal in consequence, that it is airborne, that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted
because it is airborne. Can you imagine if you knew on January 28th, as opposed to March 13th, what they knew, what you might've done to prepare? They knew, and they covered it up. The president said it was a hoax. PENCE:
Under President Trump's leadership, Operation Warp Speed, we believe we'll have literally tens of millions of doses of a vaccine before the end of this year. The reality is, when you look at the Biden plan,
it reads an awful lot like what our task force has been doing every step of the way. I think the American people know that this is a president who has put the health of America first.
Source: 2020 Vice-Presidential Debate in Utah
, Oct 7, 2020
Trust people to make smart decisions, mandates not needed
HARRIS: The American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any presidential administration in the history of our country. 210,000 dead. Over 7 million who have contracted this disease. One in five businesses closed.
We're looking at frontline workers who have been treated like sacrificial workers. We are looking at over 30 million people, who had to file for unemployment. PENCE: President Trump and I trust the
American people to make choices in the best interest of their health. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris consistently talk about mandates, and not just mandates with the Coronavirus,
but a government takeover of healthcare, the Green New Deal, all government control. We're about freedom and respecting the freedom of the American people.
Source: 2020 Vice-Presidential Debate in Utah
, Oct 7, 2020
Medicare & Medicaid greatest threat to those under 40
In a The Indianapolis Star letter to the editor Mike Pence wrote, "The most ominous consequence of a universal drug benefit could be that it will usher in the beginning of socialized medicine in America." [Indianapolis Star, 6/26/03]
Pence termed entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid as 'the greatest threat there is to those under the age of 40.'
He said Medicare and Medicaid in their current forms 'threaten the economic vitality of future generations' and are currently 'fraught with waste, fraud and abuse.'
He recommended states be put in charge of Medicaid programs." [Decatur Daily Democrat, 4/28/11]
Source: Trump Research Book on Mike Pence
, Sep 22, 2020
Big government & candy are more harmful than cigarettes
Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill. In fact, 2 out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer. This is not to say that smoking is
good for you. The relevant question is, what is more harmful to the nation, second hand smoke or back handed big government disguised in do-gooder healthcare rhetoric." [Mike Pence Op-Ed via Wayback Machine, 2001]"Seriously, lung cancer claims too
many lives but the numbers are inconsequential compared to the death toll related to heart disease. What is the main cause of heart disease? Obesity. What single product, when used properly, contributes more to obesity than any other product in
America? Candy! 'But, Mike, (you might say) you can't compare candy and cigarettes.' Oh, can't I?" [Mike Pence Letter To The Editor--Indianapolis Star, 5/18/97]
Source: Trump Research Book on Mike Pence
, Sep 22, 2020
Pay uninsured $1000 a year to buy health insurance
[Mike Pence for Congress via Wayback Machine, 2000]: "Congress should address the 44 million uninsured working Americans by enacting the Faircare for the Uninsured Act of 1999 (H.R. 2362). Under the Faircare credit, each working adult
(excepting those already covered by an employer plan, those on Medicaid or Medicare) would receive $1000 each year, tax free, to buy health insurance and an additional $500 for each child up to a $1000 for two or more children."
Source: Trump Research Book on Mike Pence
, Sep 22, 2020
A nation of miracles: coronavirus vaccine by end of year
As we speak we're developing a growing number of treatments, including convalescent plasma that are saving lives all across the country. Last week, Joe Biden said "no miracle is coming." What Joe doesn't seem to understand is that America is a nation
of miracles and we're on track to have the world's first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. After all the sacrifice in this year like no other -- all the hardship-- we are finding our way forward again.
Source: Speech at 2020 Republican National Convention
, Aug 26, 2020
Coronavirus testing is state managed but federally supported
While the president has made it clear that we want the governors to implement and deploy testing where they deem it's most appropriate, we're going to continue to fully partner with states to make sure that they have the reagents and test kits necessary
to perform those tests. It is state managed. But it's federally supported. The federal government at the president's direction will continue to support governors as they deploy the testing resources in the time and manner of their choosing.
Source: NBC Meet the Press interview for 2020 Veepstakes
, Apr 19, 2020
COVID: February 2020--We're ready for anything
Allow me to address an issue that I know is on the hearts and minds of people all across this country: the potential impact of the coronavirus here in America. President Donald Trump has no higher priority than the health, safety, and wellbeing of the
American people. While the risk to the American public remains low, as the president said yesterday, we're ready. We're ready for anything.
Source: Remarks by V.P. Pence at the 2020 CPAC Conference
, Feb 27, 2020
Smoking doesn't kill; 90% of smokers don't get lung cancer
On public health: "Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn't kill. In fact, two out of every three smokers do not die from a smoking-related illness and nine out of 10 smokers do not contract lung cancer,"
Pence said in 2000. Additionally, Pence has advocated teaching creationism in American public schools and, as governor of Indiana, had an HIV outbreak explode on his watch because he moved too slowly on approving needle exchanges.
Source: The Daily Beast on 2020 Veepstakes
, Feb 26, 2020
Replace ObamaCare with new plan with Congressional support
[In 2017,] the first order of business for Pence was repealing ObamaCare. Republicans had spent eight years trashing the Democratic health care overhaul, but now that they were in power, they ran up against the same political winds that forced
ObamaCare to look like such a political Frankenstein's monster to begin with. Conservatives wanted a complete and total repeal of the law, moderative Republicans wanted to protect certain pieces of it. In private meeting at the White House,
Pence consistently reassured Trump that they would have the votes needed to do away with ObamaCare, create a new healthcare plan, and put a new bill on the president's desk. But Pence's own long time adviser and confidant,
Marc Short, consistently delivered a more pessimistic message to Trump, that the votes would be more difficult to come by. Short was right.
Source: Piety & Power, by Tom LoBianco, p.281-3
, Sep 14, 2019
Don't regulate the prices of life-saving drugs
Q: Should the government regulate the prices of life-saving drugs?Mike Pence's answer: No, and the government should never regulate prices of private businesses
Tim Kaine's answer: Yes and the government should invest in researching new life-saving drugs
Evan McMullin's answer: No, and the government should never regulate prices of private businesses
Source: iSideWith.com analysis of 2016 presidential hopefuls
, Nov 1, 2016
Healthy Indiana: expand Medicaid but with "skin in the game"
When faced with the decision of whether to embrace Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, Pence took the money. But he did it with a conservative twist: The Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0 is built on a smaller coverage program. The program began last year and
extends coverage to low-income adults up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Indiana's program requires beneficiaries to pay into health savings accounts. It's based on the principle that people should have "skin in the game."
Source: Politico.com on 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race
, Jan 26, 2014
Medicaid is not just broke, it is broken
Most Hoosiers didn't like Washington intruding on our healthcare long before it became a reality. Now, more people than ever know why we were right to stand up to the federal government on the Affordable Care Act.There's been a lot of talk about
Medicaid. The sad truth is that traditional Medicaid is not just broke, it is broken. Research shows that the program does not lead to better health outcomes and in some cases hurts the very people it is supposed to help. One analysis found 2/3 of the
children on Medicaid who needed to see a specialist, couldn't. Traditional Medicaid is not a system we need to expand. It's a system we need to change. The Healthy Indiana Plan is the right place to start.
The Healthy Indiana Plan is consumer-driven healthcare that moves people from emergency rooms to primary care and encourages low-income Hoosiers to take more ownership of their own healthcare decisions.
Source: 2014 State of the State Address to Indiana legislature
, Jan 14, 2014
ObamaCare is a government takeover of health care
Q: On ObamaCare, what is left for Republicans to do?PENCE: We are going to use every means at our disposal to oppose this government takeover of health care. I think the American people see a headlong rush to confront the very real challenges that we
have in health care with more government instead of more freedom. Republicans have been offering solutions from the beginning. Let people purchase health insurance across state lines, pass malpractice reform, cover preexisting conditions. All of that
can be done without a massive, trillion-dollar expansion of the federal government and burdening future generations with more deficits and more debt.
Q: But the reality is that you don't have the votes to stop it politically.
PENCE: A minority in
Congress plus the American people equals a majority. The American people don't want this government takeover of health care. And I don't know if they have the votes today, but I guarantee you, the American people know they have the votes in America.
Source: CNN 2010 "State of the Union" interview with Candy Crowley
, Mar 21, 2010
Rated 11% by APHA, indicating a anti-public health voting record.
Pence scores 11% by APHA on health issues
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.
The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.
Source: APHA website 03n-APHA on Dec 31, 2003
Repeal any federal health care takeover.
Pence signed Club for Growth's "Repeal-It!" Pledge
The Club for Growth`s `Repeal-It!` Pledge for incumbents states, `I hereby pledge to the people of my district/state to sponsor and support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover passed in 2010, and replace it with real reforms that lower health care costs without growing government.`
Source: Club for Growth's "Repeal-It!" Pledge 10-CfG-inc on Jul 4, 2010
Deauthorize funding for Obamacare.
Pence signed H.R.5882
To deauthorize appropriation of funds to carry out the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA). Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148), the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152), and any amendment made by either such Act.
[OnTheIssues Note: these two bills are the core of the Democratic healthcare plan, known as `Obamacare.` Deauthorizing funding for Obamacare means almost the same as repealing it, except that the laws would still stay on the books so perhaps it`s a little more likely to get votes. This bill is an exercise of `the power of the purse`, over which the House has sole control.]
Source: PPACA and HCERA Deauthorization 10-HR5882 on Jul 27, 2010
Repeal the Job-Killing Health Care Law.
Pence co-sponsored Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act
Repeals the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, effective as of its enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by such Act.
Repeals the health care provisions of the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, effective as of the Act`s enactment. Restores provisions of law amended by the Act`s health care provisions.
Source: H.R.2 11-HR002 on Jan 5, 2011
Page last updated: Jan 24, 2024; copyright 1999-2022 Jesse Gordon and OnTheIssues.org