CNN "State of the Union" interviews during 2017: on Health Care

John McCain: Repeal & replace, but don't throw anyone off healthcare

MCCAIN: Arizona had premiums that went up by 150 percent. Every one of our counties got down to one provider. It's our job now to do what we promised the American people in the last election, and that is to repeal and replace. And the first priority is not to leave anyone without the opportunity to have health care. That has to be, I think, the underpinning of any reforms that we may make. I would like to give states that have experimented in a different way an opportunity to follow those experiments. What works in Arizona may not work in Massachusetts. So let's give the states the funds and let's let them do some experimentation as to what is best for those states. But there has to be an underlying principle, and that is, we're not going to throw anybody off of health care to not be able to have the opportunity to get it.

Lindsey Graham: ObamaCare takes money from some & gives free care to others

GRAHAM: Well, we'll get there, I hope. If we don't, we'll pay a heavy price. We're the dog that caught the car. So the bottom line is, I hope Democrats will help us. I remember voting against Obamacare on Christmas Eve, the year it passed, jammed down our throats. The best thing we can do is try to get Democrats to help us. Obamacare, when we passed it, Congress was excluded, right? Listen, I'm going to be noble and I'm going to live like the average person in South Carolina, so I went into the state program. I got whacked. And I'm like 58 years old, short white guy, no kids. My premiums tripled. My deductible went up to $6,250. This is not health care reform. This is just taking money from one group of people and giving health care free to another group of people.

Bernie Sanders: ObamaCare requires insurers to cover you, even at a loss

CRUZ: Bernie and the Democrats want government to control health care. I trust you. And I trust your doctors. I think health care works better when you're in charge of your family's health care decisions.

SANDERS: The Republicans are now in a panic, because the American people have caught on that the absolute repeal of ObamaCare without a plan to make it better, would be an absolute disaster. So when Ted talks about giving people choice, here's your choice. You got cancer, and you go to the doctor, and the insurance company says, "We're not going to cover it. We can't make money on you because you have cancer. You have a pre-existing condition." And here's another choice you can have if we get rid of ObamaCare. If you have diabetes, and you're spending a whole lot, the insurance companies will say, "sorry, we're only going to spend X dollars, because we've got to make money off you." That's the function of private insurance.

Bernie Sanders: Medicare should negotiate prices with pharma industry

SANDERS: I'm willing to look at it, if you are willing to look at taking on pharma, which is the greediest of many greedy corporate interests. I'm introducing legislation to have Medicare negotiate prices with the pharmaceutical industry. I'm going to introduce legislation to allow Americans to buy less expensive medicine in Canada, the U.K., and other countries. Let's take on the greed of pharma, substantially lower prescription drug prices.

CRUZ: I voted with you in support of allowing drug re-importation. But a much bigger barrier is that, in the last 20 years, the FDA has approved only 3 child cancer drugs, because the burdens are so great.

SANDERS: That is not the major problem. The major problem with the pharmaceutical industry is they could double or triple the prices you pay for medicine tomorrow.

Ted Cruz: I trust you & your doctors to control your health care

CRUZ: Health care is personal in a way that is different from most other political issues. Health care affects our families. It's our moms. Health care is our kids. It's the future. It can quite literally be whether we live or die. Bernie and the Democrats want government to control health care. I trust you. And I trust your doctors. I think health care works better when you're in charge of your family's health care decisions, when you can sit down with your doctor and decide the care that's best for your family without government setting rules, without government rationing, without wait periods. Six years ago, when ObamaCare was being adopted, it's possible that reasonable minds could have differed on whether this was a good idea. But six years into it, we've seen the results.

SANDERS: The American people have caught on that the absolute repeal of ObamaCare without a plan to make it better, would be an absolute disaster.

Ted Cruz: Reform FDA to approve foreign drugs faster

SANDERS: I'm willing to look at it, if you are willing to look at legislation to allow Americans to buy less expensive medicine in Canada and other countries.

CRUZ: Just a couple of weeks ago, I voted with you in support of allowing drug re-importation. But a much bigger barrier than that is the fact that, in the last 20 years, the FDA has approved only three child cancer drugs? In 20 years, because the burdens are so great. I introduced legislation that said if a drug is approved in another major country, if it's approved in Europe or Japan, that the FDA has got 30 days to approve it here. We shouldn't be telling people with life-threatening diseases you can't do everything you can to save your lives.