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Mark Kelly on Health Care
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Supports a tax credit for family and informal caregivers
Q: Your Medicare/Medicaid policy? Kelly: I'd lower the cap on out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare Part D, direct Medicare to negotiate the prices they pay for all drugs and work to make cheaper generics available more quickly by cracking down
on how big pharmaceutical companies abuse the patent system. This will be one of my top priorities in the Senate: to lower the costs of prescription drugs for Arizona seniors.
Q: And your Medicaid policy?
Kelly: I will protect and strengthen Medicaid funding, which has allowed many seniors to get the care they need. We also must take steps to allow more seniors to live at home rather than entering a nursing home by supporting programs that
provide in-home care and help caregivers. I support a tax credit for family and informal caregivers who spend more than 20 hours per week caring for the needs of their older loved ones.
Source: AARP Survey on 2020 Arizona Senate race
, Oct 9, 2020
Oppose any efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher program
Q: Your Medicare policy?A: Seniors have paid into Medicare their entire lives, with the promise that it would take care of them in retirement. I plan to keep it that way. I also oppose any efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher program, which would
lead to seniors paying more for worse coverage. I also understand that for many seniors, healthcare is still a strain on their budgets. That's why I'd work to lower the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D.
Source: AARP Survey on 2020 Arizona Senate race
, Oct 9, 2020
Health care is a right; supports public option
Mark believes health care is a right. Mark supports:- Ensuring every Arizonan has health insurance, and that those with pre-existing conditions are covered with insurance they can afford.
- A public health care option that would compete with
private insurers.
- Taking on the pharmaceutical industry to lower the cost of prescription drug costs.
- More transparency for and oversight of hospital costs.
- Cracking down on bad actors responsible for the opioid epidemic.
Source: 2020 Arizona Senate campaign website MarkKelly.com
, Jan 15, 2020
Allow Medicare buy-in; limited public option
Kelly said his wife also taught him tenacity as she recovered from a devastating head wound after she and several other people were shot in Tucson in 2011. "I still think how much more difficult that fight would have been if Gabby did not have good
health care coverage," he said. He pledged to expand health care access and reduce costs for families by allowing people nearing retirement to buy into Medicare and allowing a public health care option in areas where there isn't enough competition.
Source: Casa Grande Dispatch on 2020 Arizona Senate race
, Nov 7, 2019
Medicare needn't be barred from negotiating drug prices
Kelly said that Congress could do more to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. "There's a lot we can do as a country, especially when you consider Medicare Part D buys 30% of the medication that our country consumes. HHS should be able to reduce the
price of those drugs," Kelly said. "It's currently prohibited for them to negotiate the price of prescription medication, but it doesn't have to be that way."
Source: Arizona Daily Star on 2020 Arizona Senate race
, Sep 19, 2019
Employer health insurance should stay; improve care access
"We have 156 million Americans who get their health insurance through their employer, and that shouldn't go away," Kelly said in the 12 News interview. "I mean, we're not going to be able to promise these folks something better. "So, clearly, we
should be able to provide access to affordable health care for everybody, but I am not in favor for the 156 million of us that get our health care through our employer to make that go away," he added.
Source: The Arizona Republic on 2020 Arizona Senate race
, Apr 22, 2019
Ensure healthcare access, unsure of single-payer care
Kelly said, "Often it happens when they don't have health care coverage and it is devastating to them and their families. It often ruins their lives." The top priority, said Kelly, is ensuring that people have access to health care and do not lose their
coverage for pre-existing conditions. But he balked at whether he supports some type of single-payer system where the government is responsible for coverage for all residents. "I don't know," he said. "I'm going to have to figure this out over time."
Source: Arizona Capitol Times on 2020 Arizona Senate race
, Feb 12, 2019
Page last updated: Dec 27, 2021