Kamala Harris on Health Care : Apr 22, 2024
Establish nursing home minimum staffing rule

The Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Rule finalized today will require all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid to have 3.48 hours per resident per day of total staffing, including a defined number from both registered nurses (0.55 hours per resident per day) and nurse aides (2.45 per resident per day). This means a facility with 100 residents would need at least two or three RNs and at least ten or eleven nurse aides as well as two additional nurse staff.

Ryan Binkley on Health Care : Feb 5, 2024
Obamacare has ballooned Medicaid costs; it doesn't work

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Jan 10, 2024
Make all of Medicaid into block grants

HALEY: Medicaid needs to be sent down as block grants. Governors can best decide how to do that. Whether they need to use it towards mental health, whether they need to use it towards support services. Right now, I would send all of that down to the states. The problem is they're only sending a small portion of it.

DESANTIS: I think what you do is you block-grant the program and then let states run the way they see fit to do. But I can tell you this, expanding Medicaid leads to less private coverage. It doesn't necessarily increase access to quality care. I want to actually get people good health care. It's not just about a sheet of paper if you don't get any good doctors that get you entitled for that.

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Dec 6, 2023
Florida did not expand ObamaCare; need accountability

Ron DeSantis: We have millions of Americans who do not have access to affordable healthcare, and it's not just getting some type of card and Medicaid, because a lot of times they don't even get access to care. The other thing is we have millions of people that don't have access to good doctors and good hospitals. Florida did not expand Obamacare. I think the states that did that I think are struggling financially. So that, yes, we declined to do that and I don't think that that was the right policy to do, but we are going to go after the cost. You're paying too much for everything. We've actually addressed this in Florida in some ways, but you need price transparency. You need to hold the pharmaceuticals, big insurance, and big government accountable, and we're going to get that done.

Nikki Haley on Budget & Economy : Aug 23, 2023
Stop the spending like $2.2T COVID stimulus bill

Chris Christie on Drugs : Jun 12, 2023
End the war on drugs, it's a disease; focus on treatment

CHRISTIE: End it. I want to focus on treatment. It is a disease and can be treated. It's not easy, but neither is treatment for cancer or heart disease in many cases. We need to make treatment broadly available to everyone who is addicted, because with Medicaid Assisted Treatment, with talk therapy, with those things combined, we can save not every life, but many of those lives.

Nikki Haley on Budget & Economy : Jun 4, 2023
We've got to go back to being fiscally responsible

Nikki Haley on Environment : May 7, 2023
Sued Obama's EPA over heavy-handed regulatory burdens

Kristi Noem on Health Care : Jan 10, 2023
$1.1M for pregnancy/postpartum care for Medicaid recipients

JD Vance on Health Care : Nov 1, 2022
Medicaid is a safety net but shouldn't de-incentivize work

A: Individuals should make medical decisions for themselves. Parents should make medical decisions for their children.

Q: What most closely matches your view on healthcare?

A: [AFA choice C]: "Medicaid and Medicare should remain available, but no other taxpayer-funded programs are necessary." [Vance's comment]: Government should be there as a safety net especially for those that physically cannot work: the disabled, young children, etc. Medicaid was originally meant for this purpose and as a safety net for folks who fell on hard times. Unfortunately, sometimes it de-incentivizes people from getting a better job, because if they get a raise they will lose healthcare. We need to get rid of the "benefits cliff" for working people so that they can climb out of poverty. Just as importantly we need to create work requirements.

Kristi Noem on Health Care : Oct 2, 2022
No to Medicaid expansion; $80 million cost is too high

[Democratic nominee Jamie R. ]Smith said he is in favor of Medicaid expansion, so those in need would have some relief if they were faced with a huge medical bill. Smith says it will not cost as much as Noem claims.

[Libertarian nominee Tracey] Quint said if the voters show they are for Medicaid expansion, then she would deliver. Quint said she would shy away from adding to the state's expenses when it comes to expanding Medicaid but says there are ways the state can save money to fund Medicaid.

Kristi Noem on Health Care : Jul 3, 2022
Won't vote for Medicaid expansion; will implement if passed

NOEM: What that does is make sure that Medicaid expansion would cover able-bodied single individuals that are able to work. It also would include about an $80 million cost to the state.

Q: Will you vote for it?

NOEM: I won't be voting for it myself personally because of the tax increases that would have to happen to pay for it. But if it is passed by the people, I certainly will implement it.

Larry Elder on Health Care : Aug 27, 2021
Abolish Medicaid; charity not allowed by the Constitution

"Grandfather everyone currently on Medicaid, and then admit no more people and end the program at the federal level," he wrote. "Charity is not allowed by the Constitution, and it should be left to the states--even better, left to the private and nonprofit sectors."

Joe Biden on Abortion : Apr 14, 2021
Restore federal Title X family planning program

PROMISE KEPT: (NPR News, 4/14/21): The Biden administration is moving to reverse a Trump-era family planning policy that critics describe as a domestic "gag rule" for reproductive healthcare providers. The proposal would largely return the federal Title X family planning program to its status before Trump took office. The current rules, implemented by Trump in 2019, forbid any provider who provides or refers patients for abortions from receiving federal funding through Title X to cover services such as contraception and STD screenings for low-income people.

ANALYSIS: Since 1970, the Title X Program provides family planning services, without abortion funding.

Joe Biden on Health Care : Feb 2, 2021
Re-open ACA enrollment; restore ObamaCare to pre-Trump level

PROMISE KEPT:(Executive Order on Medicare 1/28/21): It is the policy of my Administration to protect and strengthen Medicaid and the ACA and to make high-quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every American. In light of the exceptional circumstances caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, establish a Special Enrollment Period for uninsured and under-insured Americans to seek coverage through the Federally Facilitated Marketplace.

OnTheIssues ANALYSIS: Biden made his promise at the beginning of the pandemic, and all healthcare policy in 2021 is tied up with the pandemic. Biden has largely restored ObamaCare cuts--by reopening ACA enrollment--and largely subsidized ObamaCare--via pandemic spending and pandemic justification.

Kristi Noem on Health Care : Jan 12, 2021
Make pandemic rules for telehealth permanent

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 22, 2020
ObamaCare plus a public option makes BidenCare

BIDEN: What I'm going to do is pass ObamaCare with a public option, and become BidenCare. The public option says that if you qualify for Medicaid and you do not have the wherewithal in your state to get Medicaid, you automatically are enrolled, providing competition for insurance companies. That's what's going to happen. Secondly, we're going to make sure we reduce the premiums and reduce drug prices by making sure that there's competition, that doesn't exist now, by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices with the insurance companies. Thirdly, the idea that I want to eliminate private insurance, the reason why I had such a fight with 20 candidates for the nomination was I support private insurance. That's why. Not one single person with private insurance would lose their insurance under my plan, nor did they under ObamaCare. They did not lose their insurance unless they chose they wanted to go to something else.

Joe Biden on Health Care : Sep 29, 2020
Public option won't end private insurance; only for Medicaid

BIDEN: It does not. It's only for those people who are so poor they qualify for Medicaid they can get that free in most states, except Governors who want to deny people who are poor Medicaid. Anyone who qualifies for Medicaid would automatically be enrolled in the public option. The vast majority of the American people would still not be in that option.

Donald Trump on Health Care : Sep 28, 2020
Improve Medicare by looking for fraud, waste and abuse

TRUMP: We're looking at that very seriously. These are incredible people. They have been unrecognized for the job they do, and if they didn't do that job, we'd be swamped; our hospitals and our health care system would be swamped.

Q: That would be through Medicare or Medicaid?

TRUMP: We think so, yes. We're looking at that as being probably the best alternative. Management can be improved. One of the biggest ways of doing that, as you know, is look at fraud, waste and abuse. By the way, [Medicare] Part D premiums are lower by around 12 percent. We've done a lot, but there is a big thing on fraud, waste and abuse, and we'll take care of that.

Mike Pence on Health Care : Sep 22, 2020
Pay uninsured $1000 a year to buy health insurance

Mike Pence on Health Care : Sep 22, 2020
Medicare & Medicaid greatest threat to those under 40

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]

Mike Pence on Immigration : Sep 22, 2020
Opposed SCHIP expansion for elimination of citizenship proof

Joe Biden on Health Care : Feb 20, 2020
Public option for ObamaCare; $50 billion for research

BIDEN: I would restore all the cuts this president has made in the Affordable Care Act, across the board. I add what they call a public option, and that is a Medicare-like option. If you wanted to buy into that option or if you didn't have the money, you would be able to get it for free. So it's Medicare if you want it. If you qualify for Medicaid and you don't have it in your state, you're automatically enrolled. There is no waiting for anything.

Secondly, we make sure we reduce drug prices, as well, allowing Medicare to be able to negotiate with the drug companies the cost of drugs. And I would invest over $50 billion to focus on the diseases that cause the most damage and cost the most--cancer, Alzheimer's, and obesity.

We should have a department that says what we're going to do is spend the money needed that the drug companies are unwilling to spend or unable to spend to make sure that we find cures.

Donald Trump on Budget & Economy : Jun 25, 2019
I alone can fix it, with massive tax cut

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Apr 2, 2019
State-by-state Medicaid expansion is a major step

The House vote to approve expansion in March attracted national attention. Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate, called it a "major step." But since then, the Senate hasn't taken action on the legislation.

If Kansas increases eligibility in the program, which provides health coverage to low-income individuals and individuals with disabilities, to 138% of the federal poverty level, then the federal government will pay for 90% of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated at somewhere between $34 million and $47 million a year.

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Oct 9, 2018
Repeal ObamaCare; health care isn't a right

Ron DeSantis (R): Voted to repeal ACA. No FL Medicaid expansion. Says health care isn't a right. The right is to pursue the type of healthcare you want. ObamaCare infringes on that.

Andrew Gillum (D): Support & strengthen ACA, guarantee care for pre-existing conditions, expand Medicaid in Florida. Work toward "Medicare for all."

Tim Walz on Health Care : Oct 9, 2018
Single-payer system is on Minnesota's horizon

Jeff Johnson (R): Repeal; move toward "a more free-market system."

Tim Walz (D): Support. Opposes attempts to roll back ACA. Believes single payer type system "is on Minnesota's horizon," but need to control immediate costs, improve care, and support MinnesotaCare as best current option. Also supports allowing people to buy into programs like VA system, Medicaid & Medicare.

Bernie Sanders on Health Care : Oct 9, 2018
Impose Medicaid requirements on states

The Sanders bill would retain Medicaid for purposes of providing long-term services and supports, and would impose requirements on states to maintain eligibility standards and expenditures on long-term services and supports at 2017 levels.

Ron DeSantis on Health Care : Aug 31, 2018
No right to health care; that's just a bureaucratic right

DeSantis hasn't laid out a specific platform on health care and has said little about health care policy. His issues page on his website, which was published a week before the primary, doesn't include the subject. In a debate with GOP primary opponent Adam Putnam, he indicated health care wasn't a right.

"What I think you have a right to do is pursue the type of health care you want. ObamaCare infringes on your freedom to be able to do that," DeSantis said. "Democrats are saying that there's a bureaucratic right where you create bureaucracies."

Asa Hutchinson on Health Care : Feb 12, 2018
Work requirement for Medicaid

Bernie Sanders on Welfare & Poverty : Aug 29, 2017
Welfare to low-wage workers subsidizes profitable companies

Chris Christie on Health Care : Feb 12, 2017
Expanded Medicaid in NJ, but repeal-and-replace ObamaCare

CHRISTIE: I was for repealing and replacing ObamaCare when I was a candidate for president, and I'm still for it now. I hope for a really vigorous, open conversation between the executive branch and the Congress and the nation's governors, since the Medicaid program was 50% funded by our state taxes. And I will certainly share with the administration the experiences we have had here in NJ on the Medicaid program. For instance, five times the number of people are now getting drug abuse treatment in NJ through the Medicaid program than got it three years ago. I think that's a good thing.

Chris Christie on Health Care : Feb 12, 2017
Ensure coverage for people even if ObamaCare is repealed

CHRISTIE: I want them to continue to be able to have coverage. Now, there can be lots of different ways that that can happen through the repeal and replacement of ObamaCare. And there are great minds inside the Congress and the administration who are going to have ideas on how to do this. President Trump is a deal-maker. And I think he will bring the nation's governors together, since we're stakeholders in this, and make sure that we get something that will take care of the people of the United States. He has always said he does not want a system where people are without health care. We're going to work together to make sure that happens, whether it's through Medicaid or another vehicle.

Marco Rubio on Budget & Economy : Feb 25, 2016
Reduce debt to save key programs like Social Security

Mike Huckabee on Welfare & Poverty : Jan 28, 2016
Poor people don't know how to get out of the hole

Mike Pence on Drugs : Jan 12, 2016
Confront the growing epidemic of drug abuse

Chris Christie on Health Care : Aug 30, 2015
Opposes expanding Medicaid nationally, did expand it in NJ

CHRISTIE: I expanded Medicaid because it was right for New Jersey, because I had had three liberal Democratic governors before me, and so in expanding Medicaid we actually made money in New Jersey and lowered our costs in emergency rooms across the state.

Bernie Sanders on Social Security : Mar 21, 2015
Strengthen the social safety net, instead of weakening it

Bernie Sanders on Social Security : Jan 15, 2015
We must strengthen the social safety net, not weaken it

Health Care as a Right for All:
The United States must join the rest of the industrialized world and recognize that health care is a right of all, and not a privilege. Despite the fact that more than 40 million Americans have no health insurance, we spend almost twice as much per capita on health care as any other nation. We need to establish a Medicare-for-all, single-payer system.

Chris Christie on Health Care : Jan 13, 2015
Hold down Medicaid costs while providing focused choice

Our whole emphasis has been to deliver the right level of service to the right person, in the right place. As a result, we've increased and improved the options of assistance and care provided in a home setting and in the community, while reducing our reliance on more traditional institutional care, whether in nursing homes or developmental centers.

This approach has worked under Medicaid, improving services and holding down costs. NJ's Medicaid spending growth on these groups has trailed the national average, and has been cited as the second lowest in the region.

Mike Pence on Health Care : Jan 26, 2014
Healthy Indiana: expand Medicaid but with "skin in the game"

Nikki Haley on Health Care : Jan 22, 2014
Reject ObamaCare state exchange; reject Medicaid expansion

But as a state, and as an elected government, we will not be victims in this process. We rejected the federal government's less than generous offer to run a state exchange, an offer that would have Washington bureaucrats dictating the exchange and South Carolinians paying for it.

And, with your help, we emphatically said no to the central component of ObamaCare, the expansion of a broken Medicaid program that is already cannibalizing our budget, and would completely destroy it in the years to come.

These were not decisions made lightly, without thought or analysis. But I am fully convinced that South Carolina will be better for them, and I pledge to you this: we will continue to fight ObamaCare every step of the way.

Mike Pence on Health Care : Jan 14, 2014
Medicaid is not just broke, it is broken

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.

Marco Rubio on Health Care : Jan 12, 2014
Medicaid expansion fails because funded only for a few years

RUBIO: Well, here is the distinguishing factor. Under ObamaCare, when you turn Medicaid over to the states what you're saying to them is the money will be available up front for the expansion for a few years, then the money will go away but you get stuck with the unfunded liability. I'm not saying we should do that. I'm actually saying that what we should do is take the existing federal funding that we use for some of these programs, and we're still working through which ones those should be, collapse them in to one central federal agency that would then transfer that money to fund innovative state programs that address the same issues. But it would be funded, it wouldn't be something where states are told you get the money for a few years then we'll back away. And it should be revenue neutral.

Donald Trump on Social Security : Mar 15, 2013
Cannot change Medicare or Soc.Sec. and still win elections

Joe Biden on Health Care : Oct 11, 2012
Medicare gives seniors choice, even if Rx prices negotiated

RYAN: And it would deny seniors choices.

BIDEN: All you seniors out there, have you been denied choices? Have you lost Medicare Advantage?

RYAN: Because it's working well right now.

BIDEN: Because we changed the law!

Q: Why not very slowly raise the Medicare eligibility age by two years, as Congressman Ryan suggests?

BIDEN: I was there when we did that with Social Security, in 1983. We made the system solvent to 2033. We will not, though, be part of any voucher [that says] when you're 65, go out there, shop for the best insurance you can get; you're out of Medicare. This voucher will not keep pace with health care costs, because if it did keep pace with health care costs, there would be no savings.

RYAN: A voucher is you go to your mailbox, get a check and buy something. Nobody's proposing that.

Nikki Haley on Health Care : Apr 3, 2012
ObamaCare opt-out rules disallow state opt-out

We have good services, but we need to educate people on how to better utilize them and on how to pay more attention to their health.

I told Obama that his health-care plan imposed mandates that South Carolina just couldn't afford. Our annual budget is $5 billion, and we had calculated that his plan would cost us $5 billion over the next 10 years. We expected to see 30% to 40% of our private companies drop their employees' coverage and force their workers into the public system. My question had 2 parts, I told the president. Would he repeal Obamacare? And if not, would he allow South Carolina to opt out of the system?

Nikki Haley on Health Care : Jan 18, 2012
Medicaid is a broken system; federal mandates cause problems

Chris Christie on Health Care : Aug 8, 2011
$159M for community health centers for the most vulnerable

The Governor also signed a proclamation recognizing this week as National Health Center Week in honor of the comprehensive medical and dental care community health centers have been providing for more than 40 years. The theme of this year's National Health Center Week is "Celebrating America's Health Centers: Serving Locally, Leading Nationally."

Nikki Haley on Health Care : Jan 19, 2011
Let Medicaid buy generics for AIDS, cancer, & mental health

I ask that we strike the proviso prohibiting the HHS Director from setting rates paid to providers through Medicaid. South Carolina is the only state in the nation that doesn't give our Medicaid director that flexibility, and with all due respect, we can't be the only state that has it right.

Mike Huckabee on Health Care : Nov 18, 2008
Proposed 50-governor 7-principle Medicaid reform

Our plan--proposed and signed by all the governors--would save federal money & give the citizens in these states greater coverage and the program greater flexibility; a plan that was furthermore proposed as bipartisan to eliminate the normal divisions that usually roadblocked such initiatives. Turns out that in Washington, the goal is not solutions to problems, but using the issues to pontificate party dogma and to denigrate the other side.

Tim Walz on Health Care : Nov 7, 2006
Supports universal health care

Indicate which principles you support regarding health care.
• Implement a universal health care program to guarantee coverage to all Americans regardless of income.
• Support expanding prescription drug coverage under Medicare.
• Offer tax credits to individuals and small businesses to offset the cost of insurance coverage.
• Support automatic enrollment of children in federal health care programs such as CHIP and Medicaid.

Marco Rubio on Health Care : Nov 1, 2006
Launch a marketplace of affordable health insurance

Quality Healthcare at an Affordable Price
• Expanded Choice in Medicaid: Give Medicaid participants control over their own health while encouraging healthy habits
• Secure accountability for quality and costs from hospitals receiving tax support
• Implement Florida Senior Care to allow Florida seniors to remain independent and receive the care they need at home
• Use Transparency to Foster Value-Based Healthcare Decisions
• Create a "one-stop" source of information on assistance for Florida's uninsured
• Reward physicians who use technology like e-prescribing to reduce errors and improve efficiency
• Launch a marketplace of affordable health insurance
• Encourage healthcare providers to expand preventive services and walk-in care for uninsured Floridians
• Help hospitals serve patients with immediate medical problems to avoid emergency departments while still receiving the necessary care

Marco Rubio on Health Care : Nov 1, 2006
Capitated managed-care systems achieve better value

Medicaid reform provides more money for consumers in two eligibility categories--low-income families and persons who are elderly and disabled. The remaining Medicaid patients should be able to benefit from the reform initiative as soon as possible.

Reform relies on capitated managed care systems to achieve fiscal accountability and better value for patients. The plan also invites active participation through the development of provider service networks (PSNs), an innovative method of service delivery in which providers offer expertise in care management.

Mike Huckabee on Health Care : Nov 1, 2002
Guaranteed medical care not government's responsibility

Indicate which principles you support regarding health issues.
• Ensure that citizens have access to basic health care through managed care, insurance reforms, or state funded care where necessary.
• Transfer more existing Medicaid recipients into managed care programs.
• Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.
• Support patients' right to sue their HMOs.
• Guaranteed medical care to all citizens is not a responsibility of state government.

Mike Huckabee on Health Care : Oct 1, 2000
Designed ARKids for preventive healthcare for kids

These kids fell into an unfair trap. They were the children of parents who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid and not enough to afford quality private health insurance plans. These were children whose chronic illnesses were often going untreated.

Since its conception in 1997, the ARKids First program has been incredibly successful in insuring more than 60,000 children.

The real value of ARKids First will not be seen immediately, but I'm convinced it's less expensive to prevent a problem than it is to try to fix it once it has grown into something much larger.

Bernie Sanders on Principles & Values : Jun 17, 1997
GOP convinces middle class to vote for interests of the rich

Their real ideology--not the sham philosophy of "states' rights" or "personal responsibility" created for public consumption--reflects the interests of a tiny and very privileged segment of the population. Republicans are faced with the dilemma: How to convince working people and the middle class to vote AGAINST their own best interests. Or, equally important, how to get them not to vote at all. Further, how to deflect attention AWAY from the issues that affect the vast majority of people and around which they could UNITE.