2014 MN Senate debate: on Health Care


Jim Abeler: ObamaCare risks access to care, ironically

Question topic: It is the government's responsibility to be sure everyone has health care and a livable income.

Abeler: Strongly Disagree

Question topic: The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) should be repealed by Congress.

Abeler: Strongly Agree

Question topic: Briefly list political or legislative issues of most concern to you.

Abeler: Healthcare: ACA/ObamaCare has adversely affected cost and quality of our care, and ironically even risks access to care.

Source: Faith2Action iVoterGuide on 2014 Minnesota Senate race Jul 2, 2014

Jim Abeler: Big companies benefit from ObamaCare but not regular people

This month when the defects in President Obama's rhetoric and rollout of his signature domestic-policy initiative became all too apparent, Abeler came to mind. A chiropractor by profession, Abeler knows health care. He's spent more time at the intersection of government and health than anyone else in the 2014 Senate race. He allowed that the problem with ObamaCare is that it's too much like the Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association (MCHA). That was Legislaturespeak, so he translated to Candidate-ese: "The cost of extending insurance to everybody under ObamaCare is on the backs of the individual and small-group market. That's not fair. All the big people got carved out--big hospitals, big medicine, big companies, big pharma. They're all good to go. Who isn't? The small businesses are getting pounded, and the people who are hearing that their policies are being canceled." He's sure he could help design something better.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune on 2014 Minnesota Senate race Nov 23, 2013

Jim Abeler: Preventative care; coordinated treatment; low-income clinics

If the issue is ability to craft a "temperate Republican" way forward on health care--and Abeler thinks it will be--he's ready. He thinks his party's fixation on repealing the Affordable Care Act should give way to concrete ideas gleaned from the state where health care works--not Massachusetts this time, but Minnesota.

"We need to import Minnesota ideas into the health system. It's pricing in a way that looks at the total cost of care. It's medical homes that coordinate treatment. It's caring for low-income people through community clinics. It's covering preventative care. We take that as normal--but it's not the norm around the country.

"ObamaCare went wrong when it focused entirely on access, and not on cost and quality. Now we have to address cost and quality, or the access won't be there, either. In Minnesota, we know how to do that. I've been part of making that happen."

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune on 2014 Minnesota Senate race Nov 23, 2013

Mike McFadden: We need an alternative to ObamaCare, not just repeal

Q: How would you address ObamaCare?

A: I have great concerns about the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Even Democratic senators have said it's going to be a train wreck. I am as frustrated with the Republican Party in that we have not come forward with a solution, an alternative solution to health care. It's not enough just to say no to ObamaCare. We need to provide an alternative. And we will, and we're working on that.

Q: The Senate has taken votes to just repeal it straight up without a replacement on the other end. How would you have voted on that?

A: I would have had to look at all the options on the table, but I would have been adamant that we need a solution. Repeal ObamaCare, but here's a solution. The fact that there's people with pre-existing conditions that can't get access to health care, that have participated in the system, that have been good citizens, that's wrong. We have to address more than just repeal.

Source: Minneapolis Post on 2014 Minnesota Senate race Jul 15, 2013

  • The above quotations are from 2014 Minnesota Senate debates.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Al Franken on Health Care.
  • Click here for more quotes by Jim Abeler on Health Care.
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 06, 2018