2020 KS Senatorial race: on Health Care
Roger Marshall:
He and family took hydroxychloroquine to prevent coronavirus
Marshall and his family are taking the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine preventatively against Covid-19.
He told The Wall Street Journal he "would encourage any person over the age of 65 or with an underlying medical condition to talk to their own physician about taking hydroxychloroquine" and that he's "relieved" Trump is taking it.
Source: CNN Politics on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Jun 20, 2020
Roger Marshall:
Government interferes with doctor-patient relationship
Government-run healthcare has not only harmed small business, but directly interferes with the doctor-patient relationship. We must repeal and replace these broken systems. In Congress, Congressman Marshall voted in favor of the repeal of the individual
mandate, repeal of the Cadillac tax, and the repeal of the medical device tax; all of which President Trump then signed into law. Dr. Marshall supports covering individuals with pre-existing conditions.
Source: 2020 Kansas Senate campaign website KansansForMarshall.com
Jun 17, 2020
Dave Lindstrom:
Transparency in price and services provided helps consumers
Transparency in both price and services provided are key to putting consumers in charge of both their care and their health care dollars. Providing consumers information to knowledgeably engage will over time be a disruptor to the cost of health care
delivery. There is pricing transparency, competition, and both consumer and physician engagement to deliver quality services and to achieve positive outcomes.
Removing the subset of consumers with pre-existing conditions to a specialized pool targeted to the specific needs of that population will ensure for them not only quality insurance coverage but more effective and personalized care without many of
the complexities of the private insurance market. The result for those remaining in the traditional individual market will be a return to less expensive market-driven premiums reflective of the insured's respective health status.
Source: 2020 Kansas Senate campaign website LindstromForSenate.com
May 31, 2020
Dave Lindstrom:
Let Medicare have power to negotiate drug prices
The federal government is the largest single purchaser of medications. In a sweetheart deal for the drug industry a law was passed prohibiting the government from negotiating the prices it pays for medications. The current scheme inflates not only what
the government pays out, but can also inflate the out of pocket cost for everyone from Medicare retirees to government employees and service members. Medicare Part D plan sponsors should have the same power to negotiate pricing as well.
Source: 2020 Kansas Senate campaign website LindstromForSenate.com
May 31, 2020
Barbara Bollier:
Supports Medicaid expansion & public option
Barbara has led the charge to expand Medicaid to strengthen hospitals and provide affordable healthcare to 130,000 more Kansans. She was a vocal advocate for patient protection, writing and introducing legislation to end the unfair practice of surprise
medical billing in Kansas. Barbara believes that Americans who are happy with their private insurance should be able to keep it. Others should have a public option they can buy into at an affordable rate.
Source: 2020 Kansas Senate campaign website BollierForKansas.com
May 28, 2020
Susan Wagle:
Unconstitutional to ban church gatherings for coronavirus
A Republican-controlled panel of Kansas legislative leaders voted to overturn an executive order limiting attendance at church gatherings and funerals, igniting a fiery rebuke from Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.Kelly announced she was removing
exemptions for churches and funerals from a statewide order that limits gatherings of more than 10 individuals. The Legislative Coordinating Council then voted 5-2 along party lines to rescind the governor's order. The action invited confusion about
whether there is no longer a statewide ban on any kind of large public gathering.
Governors in 44 states have imposed similar restrictions on church attendance in the face of a deadly and contagious disease. But Republicans in Kansas complained that
Kelly had overstepped her authority by restricting religious gatherings. "It appears to be out of line, extreme and clearly in violation, a blatant violation, of our fundamental rights," said Senate president Susan Wagle, a Republican from Wichita.
Source: Topeka Capital-Journal on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Apr 8, 2020
Susan Wagle:
Bars Medicaid expansion without abortion restrictions
Wagle says she will not allow Medicaid expansion to pass through the Senate until her 'Value Them Both' bill has been passed. The bill would give the legislature the power to regulate abortion in the state. This comes after the Kansas
Supreme Court ruled it was a woman's constitutional right to an abortion. The possible amendment passed through the Senate but failed in the House, needing four votes. As a result, Wagle has stopped all forward movement on Medicaid expansion.
Source: KSN Wichita NBC-TV on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Feb 11, 2020
Barbara Bollier:
Focus on inaccessibility of healthcare and unaffordability
Bollier graduated with a medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed a residence in Houston in anesthesiology. She retired from practicing medicine in 1999.She has emphasized healthcare issues throughout her
political career and has been a vocal proponent of Medicaid expansion in Kansas. Healthcare will be a key issue of her U.S. Senate campaign as well. She called the unaffordability and inaccessibility of healthcare a top issue.
Her focus on health
could draw her into the debate among Democrats over Medicare For All--the idea that Medicare, which provides health coverage to older people, should be expanded to cover all or nearly all Americans.
"I am not supportive of Medicare For All
mandates. That is not the way to go. I support maintaining Medicare and finding a path to have a public option that people can buy into," Bollier said, adding that people should be able to keep their private insurance if they are happy with it.
Source: Wichita Eagle on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Oct 16, 2019
Barry Grissom:
Focus on expanding health care access and affordability
[Grissom opponent Barbara] Bollier called the unaffordability and inaccessibility of healthcare a top issue. Her focus on health could draw her into the debate among Democrats over Medicare For All--the idea that Medicare, which provides health
coverage to older people, should be expanded to cover all or nearly all Americans."I am not supportive of Medicare For All mandates. That is not the way to go. I support maintaining Medicare and finding a path to have a public option that people
can buy into," Bollier said, adding that people should be able to keep their private insurance if they are happy with it.
Bollier's support for a public option appears to be a difference between her and
Grissom, a former U.S. attorney who said he wanted to focus on expanding health care access and affordability when he announced his Senate bid in July.
Source: Wichita Eagle on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Oct 16, 2019
Dave Lindstrom:
Supports a market-based approach for healthcare
When looking at healthcare, Lindstrom said he supports a market-based approach that provides cheaper and attainable care. "We need to work on that.
It's a shame that we have a policy that doesn't allow us to have a market-driven healthcare program, which would allow us to go from state to state," he said.
Source: San Jose Mercury News on 2020 Kansas Senate race
Aug 14, 2019
Susan Wagle:
Medicaid expansion is socialism
As Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urges lawmakers to expand Medicaid, the state Senate's top Republican is opening the door to a health care bill that would include provisions favored by conservatives, such as work requirements. But Senate President Susan
Wagle wants the Legislature to study expansion later this year and take up a bill in 2020. She made clear that--as far as she's concerned--a Medicaid expansion bill that passed the House last month won't survive the Senate. "The governor just called for
the Senate to pass a bill that Bernie Sanders--a socialist--endorsed. And that's not going to happen in the Kansas Senate," Wagle said. Kelly, who has made expansion her signature issue, said in the expansion debate the term "study" has come
to mean "stall."
[Under Medicaid expansion], the federal government will pay for 90% of the cost. For a family of four, that's $35,535 a year. The state's share of the cost of expansion has been estimated between $34 million and $47 million a year.
Source: Wichita Eagle, "Medicaid," on 2020 Kansas Senatorial race
Apr 2, 2019
Page last updated: Jul 27, 2020