2008 New Mexico Senate Debate between Tom Udall & Steve Pearce: on Health Care


Steve Pearce: Safety is an issue for reimporting drugs

On issues important to senior citizens, the two sparred over prescription drug policies, Udall said the U.S. should allow the reimportation of drugs from other countries and the government should be allowed to negotiate with the drug companies to lower prescription drug costs.

Pearce said safety is an issue for reimporting drugs. “When we start bringing in medicines from out there that are not approved by the (Federal Drug Administration), we’re going to get things that are made in a bathtub in Nigeria,” Pearce said. “Tom, that was probably the riskiest vote that you took.” Pearce said the prescription drug bill that passed Congress has meant savings for senior citizens.

Source: 2008 N.M. Senate Debate reported in Silver City Sun-News Oct 19, 2008

Tom Udall: Allow drug reimportation & negotiation with drug companies

On issues important to senior citizens, the two sparred over prescription drug policies, Udall said the U.S. should allow the reimportation of drugs from other countries and the government should be allowed to negotiate with the drug companies to lower prescription drug costs.

Pearce said safety is an issue for reimporting drugs. “When we start bringing in medicines from out there that are not approved by the (Federal Drug Administration), we’re going to get things that are made in a bathtub in Nigeria,” Pearce said. “Tom, that was probably the riskiest vote that you took.” Pearce said the prescription drug bill that passed Congress has meant savings for senior citizens.

Source: 2008 N.M. Senate Debate reported in Silver City Sun-News Oct 19, 2008

Steve Pearce: Allow small businesses to group together for health plans

Udall said he supports the idea of tax credits for businesses that offer wellness and preventative health programs. Udall said the goal should be universal access for everyone and he supports the idea of making the plan that members of Congress benefit from available to small businesses. He also supports expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover all children.

Pearce said he supports legislation to allow small businesses to group together and use that increased leverage to negotiate lower prices for health care plans. He also said curtailing health-related lawsuits, which he calls tort reform, would lower health care costs.

Source: [Xref Udall] 2008 N.M. Senate debate Aug 22, 2008

Tom Udall: Goal should be universal access for everyone

Udall said he supports the idea of tax credits for businesses that offer wellness and preventative health programs. Udall said the goal should be universal access for everyone and he supports the idea of making the plan that members of Congress benefit from available to small businesses. He also supports expanding the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to cover all children.

Pearce said he supports legislation to allow small businesses to group together and use that increased leverage to negotiate lower prices for health care plans. He also said curtailing health-related lawsuits, which he calls tort reform, would lower health care costs.

Source: 2008 N.M. Senate debate report in N.M.Business Weekly Aug 22, 2008

  • The above quotations are from 2008 New Mexico Senate Debate between Tom Udall & Steve Pearce.
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Candidates and political leaders on Health Care:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 01, 2018