Embracing Obamacare
Sep 22, 2015 13:30:09 #
Clinton previews her proposal to expand the Affordable Care Act and lower costs.
BY EVAN HALPER AND NOAM N. LEVEY
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Democrats facing tough e******ns have been running away from Obamacare in their campaigns almost since the law was passed, but Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking a different approach. She is embracing it.
On the campaign trail, Clinton is leaning into the Affordable Care Act, touting the health insurance mandate as a signature achievement of Democrats as the law about which the public remains deeply divided has become firmly embedded in the nations healthcare system and is delivering sweeping new benefits to millions of v**ers.
On Tuesday, Clinton will unveil a plan to expand the laws reach with a proposal to force down the prices of prescription drugs. She will call for new federal rules to cap what consumers are forced to pay out of pocket for medicines, and she would allow the federal government to negotiate directly with drug makers to secure lower drug costs for seniors on Medicare.
I want to do more to bring down the costs for families, Clinton said at a rally here, where she previewed the plan. It is disgraceful.... Medications for a lot of diseases are going up to thousands of dollars a month.
The plan would allow Americans to buy prescription drugs abroad, where prices are often lower; prohibit drug companies from writing off the cost of advertising; and limit profits the companies can make from drugs developed with the help of federal research subsidies. It would also boost spending at the Food and Drug Administration so prescription drugs could be approved for sale more quickly.
Prescription drugs account for just 10% of the nations healthcare spending, but rising prices and the proliferation of headline-grabbing and costly specialty medications, such as the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, are driving public anxiety.
Clintons embrace of Obamacare as a potential boon to Democrats at the polls next year is a notable contrast from Democratic strategy in previous e******ns. Congressional candidates in the 2010 and 2014 midterms sidestepped the issue whenever possible. Even Obama largely kept his campaign spotlight off healthcare during his race for ree******n, with the exception of the campaigns Latino strategy, which heavily promoted the laws promise in Spanish-language advertising.
But now more than 9 million Americans have gained health insurance through Medicaid or private insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. The nations uninsured rate has fallen more rapidly than at any time in at least half a century, a point Clinton seized on in Little Rock and at a campaign event earlier Monday in Baton Rouge, La., as she noted that every GOP candidate wants to repeal the law.
Im not going to let them tear up that law, kick 16 million people off their health coverage and force this country to start the healthcare debate all over again, Clinton said in Baton Rouge. Not on my watch.
Why would you repeal something that is working to help people? she said.
Clinton was particularly critical of Republican governors who spurned federal dollars to expand their Medicaid programs, a key provision of Obamacare. In Baton Rouge, she called out by name Gov. Bobby Jindal, himself a p**********l candidate, for refusing the subsidies, charging that it left 190,000 people in the state without insurance. Jindal responded by challenging Clinton to a debate on the issue.
Obamacare was sold to the American people based on lies that it would improve quality and lower costs, he said in a statement. It has done none of that.
The Medicaid issue will probably play prominently next year in the e******n battleground state of Florida, which has also rejected federal subsidies intended to bring coverage to large numbers of low-income residents without insurance. Jeb Bush, a GOP heavyweight in the p**********l race and a former Florida governor, urged lawmakers to reject the subsidies.
Clinton chose Arkansas and Louisiana to begin focusing on healthcare because of the vastly different experiences the two states have had with the law. In Arkansas, which has embraced Obamacare, the uninsured rate has plummeted from 22.5% in 2013 to 9.1% in the first half of 2015, the largest decline of any state, according to Gallup surveys.
By contrast, Louisiana has seen its uninsured rate decline less than half as much, falling from 21.7% to 16.3%. The states health indicators including life expectancy are among the worst in the nation.
BY EVAN HALPER AND NOAM N. LEVEY
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. Democrats facing tough e******ns have been running away from Obamacare in their campaigns almost since the law was passed, but Hillary Rodham Clinton is taking a different approach. She is embracing it.
On the campaign trail, Clinton is leaning into the Affordable Care Act, touting the health insurance mandate as a signature achievement of Democrats as the law about which the public remains deeply divided has become firmly embedded in the nations healthcare system and is delivering sweeping new benefits to millions of v**ers.
On Tuesday, Clinton will unveil a plan to expand the laws reach with a proposal to force down the prices of prescription drugs. She will call for new federal rules to cap what consumers are forced to pay out of pocket for medicines, and she would allow the federal government to negotiate directly with drug makers to secure lower drug costs for seniors on Medicare.
I want to do more to bring down the costs for families, Clinton said at a rally here, where she previewed the plan. It is disgraceful.... Medications for a lot of diseases are going up to thousands of dollars a month.
The plan would allow Americans to buy prescription drugs abroad, where prices are often lower; prohibit drug companies from writing off the cost of advertising; and limit profits the companies can make from drugs developed with the help of federal research subsidies. It would also boost spending at the Food and Drug Administration so prescription drugs could be approved for sale more quickly.
Prescription drugs account for just 10% of the nations healthcare spending, but rising prices and the proliferation of headline-grabbing and costly specialty medications, such as the hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, are driving public anxiety.
Clintons embrace of Obamacare as a potential boon to Democrats at the polls next year is a notable contrast from Democratic strategy in previous e******ns. Congressional candidates in the 2010 and 2014 midterms sidestepped the issue whenever possible. Even Obama largely kept his campaign spotlight off healthcare during his race for ree******n, with the exception of the campaigns Latino strategy, which heavily promoted the laws promise in Spanish-language advertising.
But now more than 9 million Americans have gained health insurance through Medicaid or private insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act. The nations uninsured rate has fallen more rapidly than at any time in at least half a century, a point Clinton seized on in Little Rock and at a campaign event earlier Monday in Baton Rouge, La., as she noted that every GOP candidate wants to repeal the law.
Im not going to let them tear up that law, kick 16 million people off their health coverage and force this country to start the healthcare debate all over again, Clinton said in Baton Rouge. Not on my watch.
Why would you repeal something that is working to help people? she said.
Clinton was particularly critical of Republican governors who spurned federal dollars to expand their Medicaid programs, a key provision of Obamacare. In Baton Rouge, she called out by name Gov. Bobby Jindal, himself a p**********l candidate, for refusing the subsidies, charging that it left 190,000 people in the state without insurance. Jindal responded by challenging Clinton to a debate on the issue.
Obamacare was sold to the American people based on lies that it would improve quality and lower costs, he said in a statement. It has done none of that.
The Medicaid issue will probably play prominently next year in the e******n battleground state of Florida, which has also rejected federal subsidies intended to bring coverage to large numbers of low-income residents without insurance. Jeb Bush, a GOP heavyweight in the p**********l race and a former Florida governor, urged lawmakers to reject the subsidies.
Clinton chose Arkansas and Louisiana to begin focusing on healthcare because of the vastly different experiences the two states have had with the law. In Arkansas, which has embraced Obamacare, the uninsured rate has plummeted from 22.5% in 2013 to 9.1% in the first half of 2015, the largest decline of any state, according to Gallup surveys.
By contrast, Louisiana has seen its uninsured rate decline less than half as much, falling from 21.7% to 16.3%. The states health indicators including life expectancy are among the worst in the nation.
Sep 23, 2015 08:34:05 #
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