Survey of 2006 House campaign websites: on Health Care
Betty Sutton:
Health care should be available to every person
Throughout her career, Betty Sutton has consistently fought for quality health care for her constituents, and believes that health care should be available to every person, regardless of income or employment. Sutton introduced the Patient Protection bill
in 1998. The legislation was aimed at preventing health insurance companies from denying or delaying treatment that was covered by a patient’s policy. Sutton consistently worked to keep insurance lobbyists from making decisions about health care policy.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, bettysuttonforcongress.com
Nov 7, 2006
Bruce Braley:
Expand access to healthcare to all Americans
Bruce believes we need to do something about the tens of thousands of middle class Iowans who are going without healthcare day after day. It is time to expand access to healthcare to all
Americans, starting with these three steps:- Expand Healthcare Rights and Insure All Children.
- Protect the Catastrophically Ill.
- Allow Small Businesses to Pool Together to Pay for Health Insurance.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.brucebraley.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
David Loebsack:
Work towards truly universal coverage
We are the richest people on earth and there is simply no excuse for the sad state of health care coverage today. It’s time to work towards truly universal coverage in America. At a minimum, we need to have a serious national dialogue about how we can
get to universal coverage in the coming years. Numerous alternatives have been put forth in recent years and every option should be on the table, including some form of national health care. ALL options must be considered.
Source: 2006 House campaign website loebsackforcongress.org “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Dennis Kucinich:
Streamlined national health insurance as Enhanced Medicare
The current profit-driven system, dominated by private insurance firms & their bureaucracies, has failed. We must establish streamlined national health insurance, Enhanced Medicare for All. It would be publicly-financed health care, privately delivered,
and will put patients & doctors back in control of the system. Coverage will be more complete than private insurance plans; encourage prevention; and include prescription drugs, dental care, mental health care, & alternative and complementary medicine.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.kucinich.us
Nov 7, 2006
Doug Lamborn:
Supports Association Health Plans over Hillary-Care
Although the federal government has a role in ensuring the safety of pharmaceuticals, its tax policies have frequently distorted the free market for health care and created shortages and cost increases. Lamborn supports AHP’s (Associated Health Plans)
that would allow individuals and small businesses to pool their resources to receive the large discounts that corporations and the government receive. Doug would oppose any socialization of medicine such as “Hillary Care.”
Source: 2006 House campaign website lambornforcongress.org, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Ed Perlmutter:
Broken healthcare system needs a major overhaul
My oldest daughter has a chronic illness and I know first-hand the challenges of rising healthcare costs and decreasing coverage. Our healthcare system is broken and is need of a major overhaul. We need a change in leadership to get this done.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, perlmutter2006.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Gus Bilirakis:
Tax incentives for Health Savings Accounts
We should look to expand the tax incentives for Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) and continue to advocate them as a viable option for healthcare choice.
For low-to-middle-income families we should provide a direct tax credit for the purchasing of private healthcare coverage in order to lower the amount of uninsured in our country.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, gusbilirakis.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Hank Johnson:
Healthcare is a right, not a privilege
I am an advocate for the expansion of health insurance to all Americans. I believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Our nation has access to the most advanced medical therapies & treatments in the world, and it is my conviction that this care
should be available to everyone. I am a huge supporter of the community clinics that exist as part of our national Medicaid system. If we can maintain the most powerful military in the world, surely we can give every citizen the healthcare they deserve.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, hankforcongress.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Harry Mitchell:
Allow negotiations for lower Medicare prices
The refusal to allow negotiations for lower prices is a prime example of Congress and the administration putting the interests of the drug companies ahead of seniors. Meanwhile, instead of offering a real prescription drug benefit to Medicare, Congress
allowed insurance companies to provide drug benefits rather than Medicare directly. They created a system of waste & inefficiency, which will be paid by beneficiaries & individual taxpayers, while insurance and pharmaceutical companies rake in billions.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, harry2006.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Jason Altmire:
Make health care more affordable & accessible for everyone
Altmire will work to make health care more affordable and accessible for everyone and to guarantee that patients’ medical decisions remain in the hands of health care professionals, not insurance company bureaucrats. The Medicare prescription drug
bill forces seniors to pay thousands of dollars more for prescription drugs and gives large insurance companies the power to overrule doctor’s prescriptions. Altmire will work to lower the cost of prescription drugs.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.jasonaltmire.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Jerry McNerney:
Medicare Part D mostly helps insurance industry
The Medicare Part D prescription drug program has turned out to be a complicated boondoggle which appears to primarily help the insurance industry and the drug companies. It needs a major overhaul.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, jerrymcnerney.org, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Joe Courtney:
Every American should have access to affordable health care
Joe believes that every American should have access to affordable health care coverage. He supports a real Patients’ Bill of Rights that allows doctors to make medical decisions, not insurance company bureaucrats, and holds HMOs accountable when they
make mistakes. Joe believes we must work to fix the Medicare Part D system, and as your Congressman he will work to close the donut hole, and require the government to negotiate bulk purchasing agreements with drug manufacturers.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.joecourtney.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Joe Donnelly:
Expand the availability of health insurance
Every American should have access to quality, affordable healthcare. I will stand up to the big pharmaceutical and insurance companies to bring health care costs back to normal. This begins with an HMO Patient’s Bill of Rights that allows patients and
doctors, not insurance companies, to make medical decisions. We must also expand the availability of health insurance. Indiana has over 860,000 uninsured citizens--we can do better. We must demand healthcare as a basic American value.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, donnellyforuscongress.com
Nov 7, 2006
Joe Donnelly:
Medicare Part D plan is huge giveaway to drug companies
Today’s Medicare Part D plan was a huge giveaway to the drug companies--which is no surprise, since drug industry lobbyists wrote the original legislation. I will work to reform Medicare Part D and advocate the following plan: Eliminate the sign-up
period to allow seniors to continuously enroll Give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug prices Allow re-importation of safe, FDA-approved drugs from Canada Eliminate the “Donut Hole” gap in coverage
Source: 2006 House campaign website, donnellyforuscongress.com
Nov 7, 2006
John Hall:
Ensure that every American has access to the healthcare
The ballooning cost of medical care is not only felt in the pocketbooks of all Americans, but the loss of healthcare for families across our country. We need to protect healthcare programs that are vital to the wellbeing of children, seniors, and all
Americans, and to overhaul the Bush/Kelly programs that cater to their friends in business more than to the people who elected them. As your congressman, I will work to ensure that every American has access to the healthcare they need.
Source: 2006 House campaign website johnhallforcongress.com “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
John Sarbanes:
Supports “Enhance and Expand” health care reform
I support an “Enhance and Expand” plan for health care reform, which seeks to enhance the three major components of our current health care system - Medicaid, Medicare and employer-based coverage - and expand them to cover the 46 million people that are
now without coverage. Put simply:- Let’s provide adequate reimbursement for Medicaid services so that physicians and other providers have an incentive to participate.
- Let’s bolster the Medicare system -- by all accounts a system that works well
and has low administrative overhead -- and then expand its reach by lowering the eligibility age from 65 to 55. And, while we’re at it, let’s fix the disastrous Medicare Part D drug benefit by eliminating the dreaded doughnut hole and giving the
government the power to bargain directly for lower prices.
- Let’s build a public-private partnership that uses tax incentives and premium support to enhance the affordability and portability of employer-based coverage.
Source: 2006 House campaign website sarbanesforcongress.com “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
John Yarmuth:
Moral obligation that every citizen has access to healthcare
We have a moral obligation as a nation to insure that every citizen has access to quality, affordable health care. I believe we must immediately begin to explore every possible mechanism for creating a universal health care system in which every citizen
has health insurance independent of his or her employment. This could be done by expanding Medicare to cover every American, or by establishing some other universal insurance system.
Source: 2006 House campaign website yarmuthforcongress.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Keith Ellison:
Time for universal single payer health care
It is time for universal single payer health care in the United States. Right now 46 million Americans do not have health insurance, and 8.4 million of them are children. Right now millions of seniors are unable to keep up with their skyrocketing drug
costs. Right now American businesses are struggling under the weight of health care costs and losing their competitive edge in the global market. This situation should be unacceptable to every reflective American citizen.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.keithellison.org, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Nancy Boyda:
Reduce healthcare inefficiencies; take on lobbysists
I worked in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years, so I’m only too familiar with the inefficiencies in our system. Fully a third of every dollar spent on health care in this country goes toward paperwork: endless forms and reports devoted, in
large part, to passing the buck from patient to insurer to government programs & then back to the patient again. We need only to spend our dollars more effectively--and that means taking on the lobbyists who represent the big insurance & drug companies.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, nancyforcongress.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Patrick Joseph Murphy:
Access to quality health care is a basic human right
Patrick believes that access to quality health care is a basic human right, and that it’s long past time that the US joined every other industrialized nation in ensuring health care security for all Americans. Access to health care is both a cost issue
and a coverage issue. The costs of health insurance have continued to skyrocket, leaving employers who want to do the right thing few options other than limiting coverage. For the unemployed, the young and seniors, the costs can be even more prohibitive.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.murphy06.net, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Peter Roskam:
Supports HSAs; opposes Medicare waste
I will work to provide healthcare consumers more choices, greater quality, and lower costs.- Step 1: Enact legislation to create Small Business Health Plans
- Step 2: Expand Tax Free Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s)
- Step 3:
Promote healthcare efficiency and effectiveness with Health Information Technology
- Step 4: Eliminate Medicare waste, fraud and abuse
Source: 2006 House campaign website, roskamforcongress.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Peter Welch:
Everyone deserves access to health care
I will take to Washington what I have advocated in Vermont - the common sense principle that everyone deserves access to health care and everyone should contribute to its costs. The US is the only industrialized country in the world without universal
health care - and this must change. Not only do other countries assure their citizens have access to doctor when they are sick, but they have also successfully controlled costs.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, welchforcongress.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Phil Hare:
Health Care should be a right and not a privilege
Prescription drugs costs continue to soar at a rate higher than general inflation. I would like to scrap the current prescription bill and re-write it in plain language that the average American can understand.
I would also like to see Medicare utilize its bargaining power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. Health Care should be a right and not a privilege.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, friendsofphilhare.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Steve Cohen:
Adequate health care is a fundamental right
I support the principle that adequate health care is a fundamental right for every Memphian. The US health care system works well for some and not at all for tens of millions. I strongly opposed TennCare cuts and proposed an alternative to keep hundreds
of thousands insured. Medicaid and Medicare are part of the humanitarian safety net that represents the best of America. I will work hard to support them and allow states more flexibility in its Medicaid (TennCare) plans.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, cohenforcongress.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Tim Mahoney:
Prescription Drug plan for seniors, not drug manufacturers
Preserve Senior Citizens American Dream- Preserve Social Security
- Ensure Corporations protect their pension plans
- Have a competitive Prescription
Drug plan that meets the needs of seniors, not drug manufacturers
- Protect seniors from skyrocketing homeowners, health, and property tax rates
Source: 2006 House campaign website, timmahoneyforflorida.com
Nov 7, 2006
Yvette Clarke:
Health care is the fundamental right of every American
Health Care is the Right of Every American: “We need to understand healthcare as a fundamental human right, rather than a commodity. I believe a basic level of healthcare is the right of every American. We should cut costs by investing in better
prevention, rather than eliminating or limiting healthcare services and medicines. Healthcare delivery systems must be increasingly public and accountable to the voters & taxpayers, rather than private and accountable to a small handful of shareholders.”
Source: 2006 House campaign website, www.voteyvette.com, “Issues”
Nov 7, 2006
Gabby Giffords:
Expand access to affordable health care
I ran for the state legislature because I wasn’t satisfied with the decisions the politicians in Phoenix were making for us. They were failing the people of Arizona on the issues of expanding access to health care, creating good jobs, and supporting our
public schools. In Washington, I will fight for the priorities that are important to us:- Expanding access to affordable health care
- Improving our public schools
- Protecting the open spaces we love
- Investing in renewable energy.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, giffordsForCongress.com
Nov 3, 2006
Charlie Wilson:
An outrage that 46 million Americans are uninsured
In the world’s wealthiest nation, it is an outrage that roughly 46 million Americans do not have health insurance. That must change. Improving our health care system will help more than our families and seniors; it will also benefit
Ohio businesses. Right now, businesses cannot compete with the rest of the world because the current system is inefficient and extremely costly.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, charliewilson.com, “Issues”
Sep 21, 2006
Carol Shea-Porter:
Medicare for all
America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, has a huge medical crisis. Our nation is the only country in the Western Democracies that does not provide health care for all of its people.
There are several plans being talked about right now, and I certainly would support any bill that would alleviate the suffering, but the plan I favor is Medicare for all. America needs universal health care, and I will work in Congress for it.
Source: 2006 House campaign website, carolforcongress.com, “Issues”
May 14, 2006
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2018