State of Illinois Archives: on Health Care

Darren Bailey: COVID: led charge against lockdown; would fully reopen

As Governor, he will work to fully reopen the economy and our schools, attract new business, and fuel job creation in Illinois.

Mark Curran: Preventative medicine approach, with free market principles

A: We are blessed to live in a nation that has the best healthcare system in the world--bar none. When it comes to further improving that system, we have to be careful not to do things that run counter to free market principles. Having incentives to recruit and reward the very best and brightest heath care professionals is important. I am a believer in a preventative medicine approach that heads off costly and debilitating problems before they start. There is also incredible waste and fraud throughout the Medicaid, Medicare, and insurance networks that needs to be taken fare more seriously. I also believe that people should be able to purchase insurance policies across state lines . I take a different tack than some other conservatives do in that I believe that preserving Medicare and Medicaid-for those CITIZENS who truly need it-must be a high priority.

Richard Durbin: Defend & expand ObamaCare and Medicaid

J.B. Pritzker: Made health care more available & more affordable

Mark Curran: Study ACA to see what's working before deciding to repeal

The problem with the cost of prescription drug prices is that they reflect more than the cost to produce the pill. The drug maker needs to recover those costs and make a profit in order to have an incentive to continue to spend money on research and development. We may want to examine whether our drug companies are charging foreign countries enough.

Tammy Baldwin: Good health care for all, especially the most vulnerable

J.B. Pritzker: Expand health care but can't do it all at once

Bruce Rauner: Move more Medicaid recipients to managed care programs

Pritzker: Yes. Support ACA; expand Medicaid.

Rauner: Mixed. Did not publicly oppose repeal, although said expressed concerns privately. In 2014 opposed Medicaid expansion; now wants to move more Medicaid recipients to managed care programs.

Healthcare: Require people to work to receive Medicaid?

Pritzker: No. Administration's attempt to add work requirement would impose "additional, unnecessary barriers to vital healthcare services for those who need access the most."

Rauner: Yes. Supports concept of a work requirement.

Anne Stava-Murray: Supports Medicare-for-All, with immediate transition

J.B. Pritzker: Add public option to healthcare

Ameya Pawar: Would go to single-payer

Chris Kennedy: Expand Obamacare; move to single payer

Daniel Biss: Medicare for all

J.B. Pritzker: Irresponsible to not fully fund Medicaid

Daniel Biss: Criticized governor for attempt to repeal ObamaCare

Chris Kennedy: Treat the mentally ill instead of jailing them

Chris Kennedy: Don't punish the hospitals; don't divide them from doctors

Raja Krishnamoorthi: Let Medicare negotiate prices for prescription drugs

Mark Kirk: For 2013 shutdown over ObamaCare, but then for compromise

Duckworth: No

Kirk: Yes

Q: On Healthcare: Did you support shutting down the federal government in order to defund Obamacare in 2013?

Duckworth: No

Kirk: Voted for several bills that contributed to shutdown, then for compromise that resolved it.

Q: On Healthcare: Should Planned Parenthood be eligible to receive public funds for non-abortion health services?

Duckworth: Yes

Kirk: Yes

Mike Bost: Increase insured without ObamaCare's government bureaucracy

There are several steps that we can take to lower costs and increase the number of insured without creating the government bureaucracy as ObamaCare did. Mike supports allowing businesses and associations to pull together their health plans to obtain larger health care premium discounts from major health insurers; full federal income tax deductibility for co-payments; and encouraging more, not less competition, in the Medicare system by expanding, not shrinking, the popular Medicare Advantage program.

Sharon Hansen: Repeal ObamaCare; it's not a government responsibility

Hansen: Strongly Disagree.

Question topic: The Affordable Care Act should be repealed by Congress.

Hansen: Strongly Agree. ObamaCare needs to be completely repealed in its entirety. It is a massive wasteful bureaucracy that has nothing to do with health care and everything to do with government control. Private charity can take over for those needing care they cannot afford.

Napoleon Harris: $50M to expand Medicaid services

Vote to concur with House amendments and pass a bill that expands Medicaid services. Highlights:
• Prohibits adult dental services from being limited to emergencies
• Specifies that the Department of Healthcare and Family Services will not provide reimbursement for more than 4 prescription drugs in a 30 day period without prior approval, excluding anti-psychotic medications
• Prohibits podiatry services from solely being available to individuals with diabetes
• Requires the Department to set a maximum limit of 20 visits and obtain prior approval for all individuals requesting speech, hearing, language therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy services
• Increases the Healthcare Provider Relief Fund from $50 million to $100 million for the 2014 fiscal year
  Source: VoteSmart synopsis of 2014 Illinois voting records May 29, 2014

  Jim Oberweis: Repeal and replace ObamaCare; not just repeal

  Both [Truax and Oberweis] label themselves as conservatives and agree on many issues, including their disdain for the new federal health care law. But Truax, a businessman who works in the health insurance field, believes the health care reform law should be repealed, while Oberweis said merely repealing it isn't enough.

  "The magic words are repeal and replace," Oberweis said. "Democrats may not like repeal and Republicans may not like replace, but something's got to be done to drive down the cost of health insurance."

  Truax said the Affordable Care Act isn't making health care affordable. Both attacked incumbent U.S. Sen. Dick Durbim, a Springfield Democrat, for supporting the health care law, and both believe that support will be the longtime legislator's biggest obstacle to being re-elected. "This ObamaCare disaster is a huge weight on Democrats across the country," Oberweis said.

  Source: Daily Herald on 2014 Illinois GOP Senate primary debate Mar 3, 2014

  Jim Oberweis: Parent policy until age 26 good; pre-existing coverage good

  Like his primary opponent, Oberweis favors repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He says there are some parts of the law he could support, but says the solution is to "repeal and replace."

  "It's so fundamentally flawed it probably can't be fixed as is," he said. Oberweis said allowing children to remain on their parent's health policy until age 26, provide coverage for pre-existing conditions and more comparison shopping for coverage across state lines should be allowed.

  Source: WUIS 91.9 FM on 2014 Illinois GOP Senate primary debate Mar 3, 2014

  Doug Truax: AdWatch: ObamaCare does more harm to middle class than good

  Political newcomer Doug Truax released a video [saying] he has proof of why the Affordable Care Act just won't work. In it, he talks with three Illinois families about how ObamaCare has affected them.

  "My plan is being terminated and the comparable plan they're offering me is 45.7 percent more expensive per month. It's gone from $385 to $561,"said John, a single father who was recently laid off.

  "They promised me that I'd be able to keep that plan and that was the promise that was made over and over and over again, and I believed it," said Steve, a small business owner, "Now I'm finding out without a shadow of a doubt that the insurance plan that I was very happy with, that I thought I was doing the best by my family, to have a good insurance plan and now it's being canceled."

  Truax believes these stories prove why the 2,300 page law just does more harm to middle class Illinois than good.

  Source: StateLine.com AdWatch on 2014 Illinois Senate debate Nov 12, 2013

  Richard Durbin: AdWatch: Targeted by RNC robocalls for support of ObamaCare

  Sen. Dick Durbin is among 11 Democrats targeted by the Republican National Committee for their support of ObamaCare. The RNC is using robocalls and posting on Facebook to urge people to call their representatives and ask "why they supported President Obama's lie that people could keep their healthcare plans under ObamaCare."

  The targets besides Durbin are Reps. Gary Peters (MI) and Bruce Braley (IA), Sens. Mark Warner (VA), Mark Begich (AK), Kay Hagan (NC), Mary Landrieu (LA), Jeff Merkley (OR), Mark Pryor (AR), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), and Mark Udall (CO). The robocall script reads:

  "President Obama and the Democrats said you could keep your healthcare plan under ObamaCare. Now we know [SENATOR] actually VOTED to make it more difficult. Call [SENATOR] at (XXX)-XXX-XXX & ask why [he/she] lied."

  The robocalls are a response to Democrats launching the "GOP Shutdown Watch" campaign, highlighting Republican senate candidates who supported the partial federal government shutdown.

  Source: MI Daily Tribune PacWatch: 2014 Illinois Senate debate Nov 5, 2013

  Jim Oberweis: Not a fan of ObamaCare, but it helps healthcare businesses

  Q: Do you worry about [investing] back home? Do you worry about the environment for small businesses?

  Oberweis: I think I'm as worried as anyone else on the direction of the country. I think we've got a long way to go. Part of the reason we started investing in China and investing internationally is that we're--this was six years ago--we were worried about the direction the U.S. was going. That said, you don't have to invest in "America," per se. We can invest in HMS Systems down the street that audits Medicare and Medicaid plans for insurance billing and fraud. Am I a big fan of nationalized healthcare, even healthcare reform? No. Is it going to help HMS's business? Absolutely. It'll be terrific. So I think you have to be a niche player. You've got to find smaller ideas that are going to benefit in the conditions as they are. You can change the conditions and always try to find ways to make money in the conditions as they exist.

  Source: Forbes Magazine interview on 2014 Illinois Senate race Jan 5, 2012

  Pat Quinn: Comprehensive Medicaid reform: save taxpayers $550M

  Last month, we passed comprehensive Medicaid reform, which will save us millions of dollars. But it will also improve health outcomes for Medicaid patients--decreasing ineffective reliance on emergency rooms by providing patients with a medical home, and focusing on preventive care to keep people from getting sick in the first place.

  We need to keep investing in essential, necessary services while cutting programs that don't work. This means continued support for cost-effective programs that do work, such as: homecare for those with disabilities, childcare for working families, and community care for our seniors. We are reducing the Medicaid reimbursement rate for hospitals, nursing homes, saving taxpayers $550 million dollars this year alone.

  Source: Illinois 2011 State of the State Budget Address Feb 16, 2011

  Pat Quinn: Independent review of denial of care by insurance companies

  A consumer bill, a very important one that we enacted, was to deal with the issue of denial of care by insurance companies. Many health insurance consumers have found that when they need help the most the insurance company denies care. We should have a process where there's an independent review of that and we were able to pass that law. And it will make sure that we have good health in our society. Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address Jan 13, 2010

  Pat Quinn: Allow women of color & low-income access to mammograms

  One of my very first bills that I signed this year had to do with mammograms and breast cancer screening. And it takes sometimes in a democracy the efforts of lots of citizens at the grassroots level to bring to our attention the need for important reforms. And that happened, and one of the first bills I did sign was a bill that allows women of color, women of low income access to mammograms and breast cancer screening. Source: Illinois 2010 State of the State Address Jan 13, 2010

  Alexi Giannoulias: Supports quality, affordable health care for all

  Alexi supports congressional efforts to guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans. He will also work to ensure preventive care and early detection programs, which include things like mammograms and pap smears, are easily accessible. Source: 2010 Senate campaign website, AlexiForIllinois.com, "Issues" Dec 25, 2009

  Richard Durbin: Large-scale expansion of taxpayer-subsidized coverage

  Durbin & Sauerberg clashed over the nation’s health-care crisis, with Durbin accusing Sauerberg, a physician, of proposing an end to government-backed insurance for the poor and elderly in favor of a program using tax credits to purchase private insurance.

  “I don’t know of another doctor who is so bold as to believe that those people who count on these programs are somehow going to be protected in the market by themselves,” said Durbin, who favors a large-scale expansion of taxpayer-subsidized health-care coverage.

  But Sauerberg said Durbin misunderstood his proposal, which he said would expand the availability of health-care coverage and make it portable and less job-dependent. “You can buy it. You can use vouchers. The government already pays for many, many people’s insurance,” Sauerberg said.

  Source: 2008 Illinois Senate Debate reported in the Chicago Tribune Oct 7, 2008

  Steven Sauerberg: Vouchers to make health care portable and less job-dependent

  Durbin & Sauerberg clashed over the nation’s health-care crisis, with Durbin accusing Sauerberg, a physician, of proposing an end to government-backed insurance for the poor and elderly in favor of a program using tax credits to purchase private insurance.

  “I don’t know of another doctor who is so bold as to believe that those people who count on these programs are somehow going to be protected in the market by themselves,” said Durbin, who favors a large-scale expansion of taxpayer-subsidized health-care coverage.

  But Sauerberg said Durbin misunderstood his proposal, which he said would expand the availability of health-care coverage and make it portable and less job-dependent. “You can buy it. You can use vouchers. The government already pays for many, many people’s insurance,” Sauerberg said.

  Source: 2008 Illinois Senate Debate reported in the Chicago Tribune Oct 7, 2008

  Alan Keyes: Give people generic drugs information to save their money

  If people are apprised of the advantages of generic drug purchases, if you are able to shop around and have the necessary information, reduce your drug costs by even 90 and 95%. But before we have explored that kind of ability to develop an informational response that empowers people with the knowledge to make better use, and more cost-effective use, of the dollars already being spend. We need an approach that will empower folks with the information they need to take advantage of the existing marketplace Source: IL Senate Debate, Illinois Radio Network Oct 12, 2004

  Alan Keyes: People should take care of their own health

  We need to take an approach that ignores the reality for some of our pharmaceutical companies. We have to be sure that consumers are getting access, cost-effectively, to the best prices they can find in drugs, but if we undercut what is necessary to repay the costs-not only to pharmaceutical companies but also to the taxpayers-of the research and development that goes into the development of new drugs, we’ll be destroying that which actually produces an expanding horizon of effectiveness on the part of our drugs. Second, we need to be doing things like medical savings accounts, empowering the consumer to be an effective policeman of the relationship between price and quality in the health marketplace. Finally, we need also to be encouraging people in the prime of life to be taking better care of themselves. One of the reasons we have skyrocketing healthcare costs is because we have an expanding sickness arising-partly because we’re not applying the lessons we know about fitness and about diet. Source: IL Senate Debate, Illinois Radio Network Oct 12, 2004

  Barack Obama: Allowing seniors to bulk purchase will save taxpayers’ money

  Q: What do you think is wrong with the new federal prescription benefits for seniors?

  A: It was fundamentally flawed as a piece of legislation. The central premise of this prescription drug bill that was passed by Bush was that the federal government, through the Medicare program, and senior citizens could not negotiate for the best possible price with the drug companies, so that they could actually get the kinds of discounts the Canadians enjoy for the drugs that are manufactured here in the US. That was done because the drug companies didn’t let it happen. What we have is a bill that’s bad for taxpayers and bad for senior citizens. Taxpayers are hit with a half-a-trillion-dollar tab that was originally estimated at three hundred billion. And about 3 weeks later, seniors have a big donut hole in the middle of their benefits. What I would do is I would say that senior citizens, through the Medicare program they can go and negotiate the best possible price as a consequence of being bulk purchasers.

  Source: IL Senate Debate, Illinois Radio Network Oct 12, 2004

  Barack Obama: Crises happen in our lives and healthcare is necessary

  The use of generics is important, as the chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee I’ve continually encouraged the use of generic drugs at the state level. Part of the problem and the reason we’re not using generic drugs as much as we should is because we have a convoluted set of patent laws that allow drug companies to change the shape or color of the tablet, and as a consequence, renew their patents and block generic drugs from coming onto the market. It does make sense for us to encourage preventative care and improve our health and lifestyles. A father in Galesburg that I met who had just lost his job, just got his pink slip, and whose son had just had a liver transplant, and he’s trying to figure out how does he pay $4,200 a month in immunosuppressant drugs in order to keep his son alive. A liver transplant is not solvable by better health. Crises happen in our lives. To the extent possible, we should control costs when we can and expand affordability and accessibility of healthcare. Source: IL Senate Debate, Illinois Radio Network Oct 12, 2004

  Barack Obama: Believes health care is a right, not a privilege for the few

  Obama believes health care is a right for everyone, not a privilege for the few. He has made affordable health care a priority - he delivered coverage to an additional 20,000 children and 65,000 parents in Illinois and sponsored a bill to protect the uninsured from price gouging. He has proposed a detailed health plan that covers every child in America, allows those near retirement to buy into Medicare, and ensures coverage for those losing jobs through no fault of their own. Source: 2004 Senate campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com Sep 28, 2004

  Barack Obama: Will expand health coverage & allow meds to be re-imported

  Obama has proposed a detailed health plan that covers every child in America, allows those near retirement to buy into Medicare, and ensures coverage for those losing jobs through no fault of their own. He will allow re-importation of drugs from other industrialized nations and fight for a Medicare prescription drug law that allows the federal government to negotiate drug prices. Source: 2004 Senate campaign website, ObamaForIllinois.com May 2, 2004

  Mike Bost: Guaranteed medical care is not a government responsibility

  Bost indicates support of the following principles regarding health issues.
  • Provide tax incentives to small businesses that provide health care to their employees.
  • Transfer more existing Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
  • Use state funds to continue some Medicaid coverage for legal immigrants.
  • Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
  • Support a patient's right to appeal to an administrative board of specialists when services are denied.
  • Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.
  • Expand the state's Circuit Breaker program which provides prescription drug coverage to low-income seniors.
  Source: 2000 Illinois National Political Awareness Test Nov 1, 2000

  The above quotations are from State of Illinois Politicians: Archives. Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care. Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  2020 Presidential contenders on Health Care:
  	Democrats running for President: Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) 2020 Third Party Candidates: Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM) Howard Schultz(I-WA) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)	Republicans running for President: Sen.Ted Cruz(R-TX) Gov.Larry Hogan (R-MD) Gov.John Kasich(R-OH) V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) Gov.Mark Sanford (R-SC) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) 2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates: Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
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  Page last updated: Oct 13, 2021