On the Issues 2008 (part 3)

HEALTHCARE: Senator Barack Obama envisions a healthcare system that "works". As such, the promotion of affordable, accessible, and high-quality health care is a "high priority" In line with this, he has co-sponsored legislation which promotes patient safety initiatives (National MEDiC Act) and madates the use federal hospital quality reporting requirements for the purpose of informing and, thereby assisting would be patients and other consumers in making crucial decisions relative to their health care (Quality Report Card Act). To contain the potentially burdensome costs of the existing system of health care to government workers, Obama (along with Democratic Senator Harry Reid) introduced the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program Efficiency Act, which apart from precluding sky-rocketing costs for health care, encourages the much needed development of healthcare information technology, which would, hopefully, translate to an efficient and effective system of settling the claims of the numerous beneficiaries.

Senator Clinton's pitch for affordable healthcare consists of supporting efforts to allow access to insurance and lower prices for healthcare services. For instance, she has gone on record to advocate (1) that families be allowed to buy into the State Children's Health Insurance Program and (2) the provision by small businesses of insurance to their employees through tax credits and large voluntary group purchases. In line with this, she has, along with Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, introduced legislation to restore access to health care for legal immigrant children and pregnant women, specifically by eliminating the existing five year waiting period before the federal government will reimburse states for providing Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) services to said people. Instead, the states are to be given the option of extending such appropriate health services to new legal immigrant children and pregnant women and, more importantly, allowing states to receive the corresponding federal reimbursement for these costs through Medicaid and S-CHIP. In order to address the rising prices of drug costs, Senator Hillary Clinton is moving to improve the Food and Drug Administration’s process for approving generic biologic drugs.

Arizona Sentaor John McCain's position on the issue of healthcare has been, on occasion, characterized and distinguished by his focus on patient rights. This is part and parcel of a full range of principles he intends to imbed in the existing system. The pertinent principles thereof, comprising, in effect, the reforms he envision, include (1) affordable healthcare and the increased accessibility thereto, (2) the right of the insured to meet the doctor of his/her choice, (3) access to emergency care, (4) continued coverage despite change in employment, (5) open and full communication between the doctor and patient and (6) the establishment of a grievance process that addressed to the HMO's concerned in the event that medical care is denied (inclusive of an unequivocal right to litigate on the same). His advocacy for patient rights are further high-lighted by his vote in favor of Patient's First Act of 2003, which, he believes would respond to a "broken" medical malpractice system. In connection with this, he laments the increasing polarization of the nation caused by intense and heated debate between two powerful and influential special interests groups, namely the medical/insurance industry and the trial lawyers. Under the said bill, while an aggrieved patient would be able to recover the full costs or medical expenses as well as current and future losses, a cap on the non-economic damages is imposed so as to control the cost of medical malpractice insurance. McCain likewise seeks to expand the coverage of healthcare to an estimated 11 Million uninsured children, while he acknowledges though that obtaining the necessary funds for this would require a certain amount of political will ("And I’ll tell you what: I have the guts to take the money where it shouldn’t be spent in Washington and put it where it should be spent, including 10 percent of the surplus.")
To specifically address the necessity of affordable medicine, McCain puts a premium on generic drugs and the best evidence to this would be no less than the Schumer-McCain legislation. The bill was actually re-introduced to the Senate on account of Senator McCain's desire to prescription drugs in its coverage and to assist millions of senior and uninsured Americans who find it difficult to purchase their much needed medication on a fixed income.

Governor Mitt Romney's postion on this issue is grounded on the notion that healthcare is a personal responsibility and hence, the individual should be responsible for securing his or her own sealthcare insurance. Inspired the success of his "universal" healthcare program during his stint as governor of Massachusetts, Romney seeks to replicate this in the national arena by undertaking some radical re-structuring of the financial system of the current healthcare program. This includes subsidizing low-income families purchasing private health insurance in lieu of the usual reimbursement of hospitals for treatment afforded to the uninsured. He likewise envisions the creation of an insurance exchange that would allow people to purchase health insurance before tax. Through such market reforms, he hopes to cut the cumbersome costs of healthcare and provide more opportunities to secure quality service. He also strongly advocates his subsidy program as a better alternative to requiring employers to contribute to healthcare plans of their employees.

From the positions discussed, the latter plan of Governor Mitt Romney would seem to be the boldest and most novel approach to addressing the age-long and highly contentious issue. Whether his success can trasncend to the federal level remains on his political will and how he would deal with Congress. This is, of course, after and assuming he secures the Republican nomination and goes on to win the elections.