Mike Huckabee on Health Care Former Republican AR Governor; possible draft candidate

Declare war to cure the four biggest chronic diseases

85 percent of the cost of Medicare is chronic disease. The fact is if we don't address what's costing so much, we can't throw enough money at this. We need to declare war on the four big cost drivers because 80% of all medical costs in this country are chronic disease. We don't have a healthcare crisis in America, we have a health crisis.

When I was a little kid, we eradicated polio. You know how much money we spent on polio last year in America? We didn't spend any. We've saved billions of dollars.

You want to fix Medicare? Focus on the diseases that are costing us the trillions of dollars. Alzheimers, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Eradicate those and you fix Medicare and you've fixed America's economy, and you've made people's lives a heck of a lot better.

Focus on curing Alzheimers, cancer, heart disease & diabetes

Vaccines don't cause autism; I get vaccinated myself

Asked about the measles vaccine controversy, a spokesman for Perry affirmed his commitment to "protecting life" and pointed to efforts by his administration to increase immunization rates.

Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor who is considering a run for president, has noted that the link between autism and vaccines was discredited. As governor, he received his flu shot at the State Capitol and encouraged all Arkansans to get vaccinated.

TEFRA model: subsidize extraordinary medical expenses

HUCKABEE: It ought to be a priority. But the priority should have been to deal with the 15% of people who didn't have insurance rather than disrupt the system for the 85% who did and who were largely satisfied with insurance, as much as anybody will ever be satisfied with insurance. What we should have done is something that was comparable to what was done back 1982, Ronald Reagan signed a bill that was called TEFRA, the Tax Equity Family Relief Act. In the Arkansas TEFRA program we took people who had severe developmental disabilities, for example, there's no way a family can afford that. But the only way for them to qualify for Medicaid would be to impoverish the family. Well, that doesn't make sense. So, what we should say is it's going to be reasonable premium, a reasonable deductible, and a reasonable co-pay, then the government would subsidize those people whose medical expenses are extraordinary.

Healthcare reform requires cultural change over a generation

The kind of change we need isn't merely a programmatic switch, but a cultural change, one that will take a generation to accomplish, not just an election cycle. And here we run up against one of the dirty little secrets of politics. People who run for office like to champion issues that they can address during their term of office.

In my own lifetime, I have witnessed at least four major cultural changes: the campaign against littering; the rise of the use of seatbelts; the ban on indoor smoking; and the raised awareness of drunk driving. These contain some important lessons in how to bring about really big cultural change of the kind we need to transform healthcare in this country.

Quit treating snakebites and start killing some snakes

That's easy enough to say. But to complete that giant transformation, we have to make an enormous shift: Americans must change their personal lifestyles and live healthier lives by making different and healthier choices as to what they eat, the activities they engage in, and the habits they adopt. This change isn't a function of the government, and it can't be. Government can't become the "Grease Police" or the "Sugar Sheriff," invading our homes and looking over our shoulders as we portion out our daily meals.

There is a limit to most people's patience with those who do absolutely nothing to live responsibly and expect those who do to take care of the staggering expense of the consequences.

First-dollar coverage for all expenses defies common sense

Each consumer ought to be able to know what the cost of an MRI or X-ray should be and what various providers are charging as well as what kind of quality is offered for the services. Add to that the practice of our insurance covering catastrophic illnesses and each of us handling the basic and routine maintenance costs and the beginning of real reform could begin. The idea of first-dollar coverage for health care for all expenses defies common sense. Imagine if the same principle were applied to our homes or cars. What if with the purchase of a car, all oil changes and wiper blade replacements were covered? While the convenience might be nice, it would make home or car ownership virtually cost prohibitive.

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.

Ok to ban smoking from workplaces, but not to ban smoking

A: I signed a similar bill in my state which said that we are not banning smoking, we are protecting clean air in the workplace. I still believe that there is a fundamental right that people have to do damage to themselves, but they do not have a right to do damage to others in a workplace.

Q: But you would sign a federal law?

A: If it were about a clean air workplace, not about banning smoking. Because the point is, and I know it may sound trivial, but it’s important to me philosophically that you’re not telling an individual what he or she can’t do, you’re saying what you cannot do is to infringe upon the right of another to have clean air.

Called for isolating AIDS carriers in 1992, not quarantine

A: I didn’t say that we should quarantine. I said it was the first time in public health protocols that when we had an infectious disease & we didn’t really know just how extensive it could be, that we didn’t isolate the carrier. Now, the headlines started saying that I called for quarantines, which I did not. I had simply made the point that in the late ‘80s, when we didn’t know as much as we do now about AIDS, we were acting more out of political correctness than we were about the normal public health protocols that we would have acted--as we have recently, for example, with avian flu--I spent months as a governor dealing with a pandemic plan that we were looking at which called for isolating carriers if they contracted that disease. I’m not going to recant. Would I say it a little differently today? Sure, in light of 15 years of additional knowledge, I would.

1/3 self-insured; 1/3 don’t want it; 1/3 can’t afford it

A: Of those 47 million, one-third don’t have it because they are self-insured. Another one-third don’t have it because they think they’re healthy and invincible. There is one-third that don’t have it because they can’t afford it. And then there are a lot of people who have insurance, but they’re underinsured.

Crisis from waiting until people are catastrophically ill

What we need to be doing is putting the real focus on preventing the illness in the first place. It’s the difference between either putting an ambulance at the bottom of the hill or building a fence at the top. We can afford universal coverage, but not until and not even close until we first have health, rather than just focus on health coverage. Let me say the last thing we need to do is to believe that Michael Moore’s idea is good and we can all go to Cuba and get health care. I don’t mind shipping him down there, but the rest of us I’d like to get our care here.

FactCheck: 2/3 of uninsured can’t afford insurace, not 1/3

We asked Huckabee’s campaign how he knew that 1/3 thought they were “invincible,” but we’ve received no response. We can find no studies that support the “invincibility” theory. [The closest is that] about 3 million people are uninsured because they decline available workplace health insurance.

Huckabee also errs in claiming that only 1/3 can’t afford insurance. About 2/3 of the uninsured are considered low-income families. Huckabee would be correct to say that 1/3 of the nonelderly uninsured are living below the poverty level.

Huckabee’s claim that 1/3 of the uninsured are self-insured is a meaningless statement. In fact, anyone without health insurance must rely on their own resources to pay medical bills. That’s what being self-insured means.

We don’t have a healthcare system; it’s a healthcare maze

The reality is it’s a health crisis, and I would further say that one of the challenges we face is that a lot of the Democrats want to turn it over to the government, while the Republicans want to turn it over completely to the private insurance companies.

I think the better idea is to turn it over to each individual consumer and let him or her make that choice. I trust me a lot more than I trust government or a lot more than I trust the insurance companies.

Individually-controlled insurance, not government SCHIP

A: The president was caught in a tough political battle. Unfortunately, the issue wasn’t about children; the issue was about political posture. Many of the kids who would be covered under the expanded SCHIP are people who already have insurance. If I were president, I would never let that get to the point where that’s the only option you have.

Q: But if it got there, would you have vetoed the bill?

A: I’m not absolutely certain that that’s going to be the right way. There’s a real problem in the health care issue where Democrats say they want the government to control it. Some Republicans say, we want private insurance or businesses to control it. The real answer is: let individuals control their own, and let them own it. That’s the real need, because I don’t trust government and I don’t trust the insurance companies. I trust me with my health care.

Portable medical records that YOU own, not your doctor

System is upside down; focuses on intervention after illness

A: The first problem with our current health care system is that it’s upside down. It focuses on intervention. We wait until people are catastrophically ill, and then we spend enormous amounts of money trying to fix them. We need to be putting the money on the preventive side. Prevention is a lot less expensive than is intervention. The second thing, there has to be ownership of the individual consumer. As long as the government, the employer, as long as the doctor is in charge of your health care, and you have no idea what it costs, and you have no idea what they’re doing, and you don’t control it, we’re never going to get the system fixed. And the third thing that has to happen is that we have portable medical records. And the policies that we can put in place have to start with individuals buying in, not only on insurance, but buying in on health, their own personal, to start with.

Oppose mandated health insurance and universal coverage

• HUCKABEE: Yes.
• TANCREDO: Yes.
• COX: Yes.
• BROWNBACK: Yes.
• PAUL: Yes.
• HUNTER: Yes.
• KEYES: Yes.

Insurance reward for avoiding tobacco, alcohol, obesity

• HUCKABEE: Yes.
• TANCREDO: Yes.
• COX: Yes.
• BROWNBACK: Yes.
• PAUL: Yes.
• HUNTER: Yes.
• KEYES: Yes.

Co-led effort against child obesity with Bill Clinton

Give Americans Congress’ healthcare, or give Congress ours

A: I’d like to side with the people of America who really are looking for a lot better action than they’re getting out of their president or Congress. You know, if you want to know how to fix it, I’ve got a solution. Either give every American the same kind of health care that Congress has, or make Congress have the same kind of health care that every American has. They’ll get it fixed. We really have an incredible problem because our system is upside-down. It focuses on intervention at the catastrophic level of disease rather than really focusing on prevention. So we’ve got a system that, no matter how much money we pour into it, we’re not going to fix it, until we begin to address the fact that this country has put its focus not on wellness, not on health, but on sickness.

Dems want government in charge; GOP want consumers in charge

A: The Republicans want to win the war in Iraq; the Democrats just want to get out. That’s the big difference on Iraq. The 2nd difference I see is that the Democrats really want the government to be in charge of things like health care. They want them to be more responsible for choices about our doctors. And I think Republicans still want every individual consumer to be making those very critical decisions about “Who is my doctor and what treatment I’m going to get and where am I going to get it.”

Q: So you don’t accept the notion that Ralph Nader would suggest that there really is no significance difference between Democrats and Republicans?

A: Well, somebody would have had to have slept through both debates to think that there are no differences. There are clear differences. The good news is the people of America will have a contrast. And both sides are legitimately trying to talk about some issues.

ARKids: Prevention less expensive than sick children

As I prepared to sign the bill, I found myself reaching for a crayon and probably made history by being the first to sign a bill with a crayon. The crayon became one of the symbols of the plan.

The ARKids First program has been successful in insuring more than 60,000 children. Many actually welcomed the small co-payment that was required since it gave them a sense of responsibility and a feeling of not being on welfare.

I am convinced it is less expensive to prevent a problem than it is to try and fix it once it has grown into something much larger. The value of ARKids First will be easier to see as children grow up not having missed school because of chronic illness. Is it costly? It is not as costly as having large numbers of sick children.

Focus on health & prevention, not just disease treatment

Most government grants are given to research for treatment of disease and to find ways to aggressively treat illness. Preventive medicine, until recently, was almost considered a form of quackery.

STOP the culture of chronic disease via self-discipline

• Do not smoke - PERIOD!
• Exercise a minimum of three times per week, at least 30 minutes per session.
• Set specific, challenging, but realistic fitness goals for the month and the year.
• Eliminate processed sugar from your diet as much as possible, if not entirely.
• Do not eat anything with partially hydrogenated vegetable oil.
• Eat five servings a day minimum of fruits and vegetables.
• Insist on only whole grain breads, pastas, cereals.
• Eliminate fried foods from your diet.
• Look for ways to become an empowered health consumer.
• Regularly read articles and books on health and fitness.
• Do little things like taking the stairs instead of elevators, parking in the far end of parking lots, and walking to do errands.
• Sleep more!

The road to obesity is paved with procrastination

One of the main reasons most of us yearn to get fit but never do is because we fail to STOP PROCRASTINATING. It is simply easier to plan on health and fitness but never to do it, by marking our intentions with a definite date in the future that we never seem to keep:

• “I’m going to start my new diet right after the holidays.”
• “I’m going to get some of this weight off in time for summer.”
• “I’m getting ready to get back into a fitness routine so I’ll look good for my daughter’s wedding.”

To stop procrastinating: Set date; stick to it; and start!

1. Set a very specific and definite start time for your program within the next two weeks.
2. Share your start date with several trusted friends, family members, and perhaps your doctor.
3. Start! After you set it and share it, start it! Don’t let anything keep you from this very important and hopefully life-changing appointment.
4. Stick to it!

Nothing tastes as good as it feels to be healthy

As you can imagine, there is an extraordinary level of satisfaction from having people notice the improved appearance of personal fitness. There’s not a day that goes by in which I’m not approached by someone who says, “You look amazing.”

The former head football coach of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks said, “Governor, I found years ago that nothing ever tastes as good as it feels to be thin.” How true that is! Or, as I would put it, “Nothing tastes as good as it feels to be healthy.”

So STOP number one on the road to forever fitness is: STOP PROCRASTINATING--DO IT NOW!

We don’t have a health-care system but a disease-care system

And that means the entire system starts working on health and wellness, because 80% of the $2 trillion that we spend on health care goes to chronic disease. We could prevent it or we could cure it, but we don’t. So it’s not an issue of there’s not enough money to cover people.

But if a real health care system exists, it has three components: It has affordability, it has quality, and it has accessibility.

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.

ARKids First program: record decreases in uninsured

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.

Supports consumer-driven “medical IRA” with tax-free money

No additional AIDS spending; cancer & vascular victims first

Ban smoking in all public places

Isolate carriers of this plague of AIDS

No federal pre-emption of employee health plan regulation.

The Issue

NGA’s Position

The Governors support efforts designed to enable small employers to join together to participate more effectively in the health insurance market. In fact, Governors have taken the lead in facilitating the development of such partnerships and alliances. However, these partnerships must be carefully structured and regulated by state agencies in order to protect consumers and small businesses from fraud and abuse and underinsurance. NGA opposes attempts to expand federal authority under ERISA. The Governors have identified the prevention of such federal legislation in the 107th Congress as a top legislative priority.

States have the primary responsibility for health insurance regulation. Across the nation, Governors are working to protect consumers and patients and to properly regulate the complicated health insurance industry.

Protect state tobacco settlement funds from federal seizure.

As you know, preserving and protecting the state tobacco settlement funds is the nation’s Governors’ highest priority. We strongly urge you to reach final agreement and pass the conference report on the emergency supplemental appropriations bill soon, and to retain the Senate provision that protects our settlement funds from federal seizure.

Many of our state legislatures are currently in session, and some have already completed work on their budgets. Therefore, it is critical that conferees reach agreement quickly on this issue. Governors are unified in their commitment to ensuring that the funds remain in the states and that there be no restrictions on states’ ability to tailor spending to meet the needs of their citizens.

We offer our strongest support for conferees to recede to the Senate version of the bill containing the Hutchison/Graham bipartisan tobacco recoupment protection legislation.