State of Arizona Archives: on Health Care

Andy Biggs: End ObamaCare loopholes that benefit Members of Congress

End the ObamaCare loophole designed to benefit Members of Congress:
• I believe Congress should under the laws it creates. Unfortunately, many in Washington, DC believe they are entitled to special treatment and have exempted themselves from the "train wreck" that is ObamaCare by exploiting a little-known loophole.
• When I am elected, I will introduce a bill to force Congress to live under the laws it passes and close the ObamaCare loophole.

David Garcia: Single payer may be way to go

David Garcia: Support ACA; move toward Medicare-for-All

Doug Ducey (R): Repeal. "ObamaCare has been a disaster for Arizona." Medicaid should focus narrowly on the "destitute & the disabled."

David Garcia (D): Support ACA. Keep coverage for pre-existing conditions. Expand on Arizona's cost-efficient & successful Medicaid programs & let healthier & younger Arizonans buy-in. Ultimately move toward Medicare for All.

David Ruben: Stop restricting how doctors can prescribe pain medication

Ruben called the new federal health care law a "wonderful thing and a great accomplishment of the Obama administration." He advocated for a health care system that would create incentives for people to take care of themselves as well as provide them with the medical coverage they needed.

Debbie Lesko: Obamacare is not the answer

Debbie Lesko: Sued Arizona for expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare

In September 2013, the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law's implementation. They argued that the law contains a tax and its implementation under the control of the executive branch violates state laws enforcing the separation of powers.

In 2015, a Superior Court judge ruled against the 36 Republican lawmakers and the Goldwater Institute, saying that the law contains an assessment, not a tax. The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the Superior Court's 2015 ruling on March 16, 2017.

Deedra Abboud: Don't repeal, but improve ObamaCare

• Lowering premium costs
• Improving accessibility
• Safeguarding care for those with pre-existing conditions
• Expanding Medicaid and protecting Medicare

Deedra Abboud: Healthcare for all is obtainable goal

Deedra Abboud: Fix ACA and get every American covered

A: Strongly Support. We need to fix the ACA and move toward getting every American covered with healthcare.

Doug Marks: Get government out of healthcare markets

A: NEVER, get gov't out of the markets!

Doug Ducey: KidsCare: Protect low-income kids' healthcare

Doug Ducey: Medicaid only for destitute & disabled; not middle-class

Doug Ducey (R): Repeal. "ObamaCare has been a disaster for Arizona & I want it repealed & replaced." Medicaid should focus narrowly on the "destitute & the disabled" & not become "a middle-class entitlement."

David Garcia (D): Support ACA. Keep coverage for pre-existing conditions. Expand on Arizona's Medicaid programs. Ultimately move toward Medicare for All.

Doug Ducey: Insurance companies should cover mental health care

Doug Ducey: Once we're all vaccinated we can get on with life

Fred DuVal: Expand Medicaid to 133% of the federal poverty level

A: I do. And for me, this is deja vu all over again. This is a repeat of the debate I was a principle player in when we first created AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, or the state's version of Medicaid). In that case, it was a Democratic governor, but the point is, there were pockets of resistance among the conservative ideologues who resisted what was, to most centrist, thoughtful people, a compelling economic development case, to say nothing of a compelling moral case. And I think that in the end, the overwhelming economic case and moral case for moving forward on this will carry the day for the governor.

George W. Bush: I haven't gotten a flu shot, and I don't intend to

BUSH: We relied upon a company out of England to provide about half of the flu vaccines for US citizens, and it turned out that the vaccine they were producing was contaminated. And so we took the right action and didn't allow contaminated medicine into our country. We're working with Canada to help us [get the] vaccines necessary. My call to our fellow Americans is if you're healthy, if you're younger, don't get a flu shot this year. Help us prioritize those who need to get the flu shot, the elderly and the young. I haven't gotten a flu shot, and I don't intend to because I want to make sure those who are most vulnerable get treated.

KERRY: This really underscores the problem with the American health-care system. It's not working for the American family. And it's gotten worse under President Bush over the course of the last years.

George W. Bush: Flu vaccine shortage from litigation worries

A: We're working with Canada to help us [get] the vaccine necessary to make sure our citizens have got flu vaccinations during this upcoming season. If you're healthy, if you're younger, don't get a flu shot this year. Help us prioritize those who need to get the flu shot, the elderly and the young. We have a problem with litigation in the US. Vaccine manufacturers are worried about getting sued and so therefore they have backed off from providing this kind of vaccine. One of the reasons I'm such a strong believer in legal reform is so that people aren't afraid of producing a product that is necessary for the health of our citizens and then end up getting sued in a court of law.

George W. Bush: Kerry's health care plan is an empty promise

BUSH: A plan is not a litany of complaints and not to lay out programs that you can't pay for. The same plan that senators and congressmen get costs the government $7,700 per family. If every family in America signed up like the senator suggested it would cost us $5 trillion over 10 years. It's an empty promise. It's called bait and switch.

Jan Brewer: We don't want federal help; sue to remain independent

On top of that, Washington's alleged solution will cost Arizona another half billion dollars every year. Only in Washington can they look upon massive federal entitlement programs bleeding red ink--and propose an even bigger new entitlement program.

The President and the Congress tell us they are going to help by reducing costs. In reality, what they are doing is eliminating freedom for our citizens, dictating the policies they must buy for their families, and forcing our employers and the state to pick up the tab.

We don't need that kind of help. At last count, 14 Attorneys General, Republican and Democrat are investigating this legislation for violating the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Jan Brewer: Expand Medicaid under ObamaCare

In September 2013, the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the law's implementation. They argued that the law contains a tax and its implementation under the control of the executive branch violates state laws enforcing the separation of powers.

In 2015, a Superior Court judge ruled against the 36 Republican lawmakers and the Goldwater Institute, saying that the law contains an assessment, not a tax. The Arizona Court of Appeals upheld the Superior Court's 2015 ruling on March 16, 2017.

Jane Dee Hull: Supports Kidscare; publicize it via schools

The most effective ways to tell parents about programs like Kidscare are through word of mouth, the schools, and the media. Unfortunately, Arizona law restricts using the schools to reach eligible children. I think it's time to use every resource, including our schools.

Janet Napolitano: Better health care policies for seniors

Janet Napolitano: Ensure children are immunized & screened for health problems

Janet Napolitano: Expanded access to KidsCare and AHCCCS

One imperative is to protect our advances in health care, including expanded access to KidsCare for families that need it, investments in health care technology to improve the delivery of care and substantial savings on prescription drugs. Some fear that little can be done right now about these pressing problems; but Congress is likely to increase aid for state Medicaid programs. And when this happens, Arizona can continue its work to improve health care by enacting quality-of-care measures, building our electronic health records infrastructure and implementing other reforms necessary to ensure that every Arizona family has access to a doctor when they need one.

Jeff Flake: ObamaCare is a heavy anchor to drag around

A: Obamacare. That's going to be big. For any supporter of Obamacare, that's a heavy anchor to drag around. A really heavy anchor. But then, just overall, debt and deficit; spending; and taxes and regulation. For Richard Carmona, having the president's support, that's nothing I would want to tout very loudly. I would welcome the president to come here and campaign with my opponent.

Jim Lamon: Redesign or eliminate Obamacare for more efficiency

• Breaking up the healthcare cartel with competition from more effective companies.
• Minimize the unnecessary cost of "defensive medicine."
• Redesign or eliminate Obamacare to drive more efficient healthcare delivery.
• Minimize unnecessary regulation and bureaucratic interference in the healthcare system by overhauling the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services.
• Eliminate waste and abuse of the Social Security Disability Insurance system.

Joe Arpaio: Sued for failure to meet inmate health needs

John Kerry: Flu vaccine failure means system is failing US families

BUSH: We relied upon a company out of England to provide about half of the flu vaccines for US citizens, and it turned out that the vaccine they were producing was contaminated. And so we took the right action and didn't allow contaminated medicine into our country. We're working with Canada to help us [get the] vaccines necessary. My call to our fellow Americans is if you're healthy, if you're younger, don't get a flu shot this year. Help us prioritize those who need to get the flu shot, the elderly and the young. I haven't gotten a flu shot, and I don't intend to because I want to make sure those who are most vulnerable get treated.

KERRY: This really underscores the problem with the American health-care system. It's not working for the American family. And it's gotten worse under President Bush over the course of the last years.

John Kerry: Health care plan is not an empty promise and provide choice

John Kerry: Bush has turned his back on the wellness of America

BUSH: A plan is not a litany of complaints and not to lay out programs that you can't pay for. The same plan that senators and congressmen get costs the government $7,700 per family. If every family in America signed up like the senator suggested it would cost us $5 trillion over 10 years. It's an empty promise. It's called bait and switch.

John McCain: Repeal and replace the massive federal health-care law

"He's clearly out of step with Arizona and with the people of this state," McCain said.

Justin Olson: No COVID vaccine mandate for state regulated utilities

Kari Lake: Protested masking requirement at Arizona State University

Lake repeated a dubious offer to students she made recently on social media: If elected governor, she would pardon anyone cited for violating ASU's new policy requiring face masks indoors.

"If they arrest you, on Day 1 when I'm governor, I will pardon every patriot who stood up against this tyranny." The Arizona Constitution doesn't give a governor pardon power over tickets or misdemeanor offenses. Any discipline at ASU would likely be handled under the university code of conduct.

Katie Hobbs: Expanded Medicaid, providing healthcare for 100,000s

Katie Hobbs: Reduce maternal mortality rate, extend Medicaid coverage

Kelli Ward: Free market is the answer

Kelli Ward: Expansion of Medicare was devastating

Kyrsten Sinema: Affordable health-care for everyone

Kyrsten Sinema: Arizonans worry about coverage for preexisting conditions

(BEGIN VIDEO) SINEMA: The reality is that Arizonans are worried about losing access to this critical coverage. And Martha voted to take that protection away.

(END VIDEO) Q: Do you acknowledge that protection for people with preexisting conditions was significantly weaker under repeal and replace than it was under ObamaCare?

MCSALLY: I am passionate about protecting people with preexisting conditions and forcing insurance companies to provide them health insurance. I voted to make sure that they had that coverage. The reality is that ObamaCare right now is not covering people with preexisting conditions. We can't go back to what we were in the past.

Marco Lopez: Improving access to high-quality health care is essential

Mark Brnovich: Filed first lawsuit against national COVID vaccine mandate

• Democrats have been using "emergencies" and COVID-19 to bludgeon Arizonans' rights.
• Filed a first-in-the-nation lawsuit against the Biden Administration over their overreaching, illegal and unconstitutional national vaccine mandate.
• Clarified citizens' right to ignore Tucson's illegal vaccine mandate, bringing relief to Tucson city employees.

Mark Brnovich: Fighting illegal and unconstitutional COVID-19 mandates

Mark Kelly: Employer health insurance should stay; improve care access

Mark Kelly: Ensure healthcare access, unsure of single-payer care

Mark Kelly: Health care is a right; supports public option

• Ensuring every Arizonan has health insurance, and that those with pre-existing conditions are covered with insurance they can afford.
• A public health care option that would compete with private insurers.
• Taking on the pharmaceutical industry to lower the cost of prescription drug costs.
• More transparency for and oversight of hospital costs.
• Cracking down on bad actors responsible for the opioid epidemic.

Mark Kelly: Allow Medicare buy-in; limited public option

He pledged to expand health care access and reduce costs for families by allowing people nearing retirement to buy into Medicare and allowing a public health care option in areas where there isn't enough competition.

Mark Kelly: Medicare needn't be barred from negotiating drug prices

Mark Kelly: Supports a tax credit for family and informal caregivers

Kelly: I'd lower the cap on out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare Part D, direct Medicare to negotiate the prices they pay for all drugs and work to make cheaper generics available more quickly by cracking down on how big pharmaceutical companies abuse the patent system. This will be one of my top priorities in the Senate: to lower the costs of prescription drugs for Arizona seniors.

Q: And your Medicaid policy?

Kelly: I will protect and strengthen Medicaid funding, which has allowed many seniors to get the care they need. We also must take steps to allow more seniors to live at home rather than entering a nursing home by supporting programs that provide in-home care and help caregivers. I support a tax credit for family and informal caregivers who spend more than 20 hours per week caring for the needs of their older loved ones.

Mark Kelly: Oppose any efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher program

A: Seniors have paid into Medicare their entire lives, with the promise that it would take care of them in retirement. I plan to keep it that way. I also oppose any efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher program, which would lead to seniors paying more for worse coverage. I also understand that for many seniors, healthcare is still a strain on their budgets. That's why I'd work to lower the cap on out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D.

Martha McSally: ObamaCare makes matters worse; but keep the few good parts

I believe we should keep the few positive changes in the president's health care law that we can all agree on--like protecting those with pre-existing conditions, allowing children to stay on their parents' plans until age 26, and ending discrimination of women. But the foundation of ObamaCare, which is based on mandates, penalties, & taxes in a one-size-fits-all solution, takes choices out of the hands of doctors and patients and puts them in the hands of bureaucrats.

Martha McSally: ObamaCare is collapsing under its own weight

Martha McSally (R): Repeal. Says, "ObamaCare, which was flawed from the beginning, is collapsing under its own weight." Says should replace with a different plan based on bringing down costs & increasing competition.

Kyrsten Sinema (D): Support, shaped by not always having health insurance as a child. "No family should be forced to choose between getting the care they need & paying their bills." Says Repeal would strip coverage from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans, & skyrocket premiums for older patients & those with pre-existing conditions.

Martha McSally: ObamaCare is not covering people with preexisting conditions

MCSALLY: I am passionate about protecting people with preexisting conditions and forcing insurance companies to provide them health insurance. I voted to make sure that they had that coverage. The reality is that ObamaCare right now is not covering people with preexisting conditions. We can't go back to what we were in the past. I met an entrepreneur last week who decided to start a small business with a preexisting condition. She's uncovered right now under ObamaCare. So, we are trying to move towards a system that provides more options, more choice for people, that lowers the cost, that allows states to manage it.

Martha McSally: Flexibility for states, instead of federal one-size-fits-all

MCSALLY: Yes, what we were trying to do is not have the federal government one-size-fits-all, top-down approach, while protecting people with preexisting conditions, allowing states flexibility.

Martha McSally: Supports bipartisan bill to stop surprise billing

Martha McSally: Require covering pre-existing conditions, but no funding

Martha McSally: Fought cuts to Medicare Advantage program

Lowering prescription drug prices has been one of my top priorities. I authored my own prescription-drug-pricing bill. The legislation will lower costs by allowing Medicare to directly negotiate prices of drugs that are past their original patent expiration but still maintain a monopoly for that drug. The bill curbs the ability of drug companies to prevent cheaper alternatives from entering the market. And it caps the out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs for seniors.

Newt Gingrich: Government healthcare looks into abyss & moves to tyranny

ROMNEY: No, absolutely not. That was entirely voluntary on their part.

GINGRICH: Well, the reports were that the public health department was prepared to give a waiver to Catholic hospitals about a morning-after abortion pill, and that the governor's office issued explicit instructions saying that they believed it wasn't possible under Massachusetts law. When you have government as the central provider of services, you inevitably move towards tyranny. You inevitably--and this is true whether it's RomneyCare or ObamaCare or any other government centralized system--you inevitably move towards the coercion of the state, & the state saying, "If you don't do what we, the politicians, have defined, you will be punished." That's why we are at an enormous crossroads in this country. We're now looking at an abyss that forces you to change.

Phil Gordon: Mayor Gordon to work for growing healthcare organization

Richard Carmona: Indignity of being poor patient in hospital sensitizes me

Richard Carmona: Helped open the first trauma center in southern Arizona

Richard Carmona: Would not have voted for ObamaCare

Flake attempted from the start of the race to tie Carmona to Obama particularly and Democratic policies in general. And it's a fight Flake continued [in this debate], arguing that Carmona's positions, ranging from earmarks to healthcare, reflected the position of the Obama administration.

Richard Carmona: Eliminate waste, fraud, & abuse--then prevention

Richard Carmona: Repealing ObamaCare means public pays for the uninsured

Repealing the plan would only put the burden on the people as the general public would pick up the insurance costs for the uninsured, Carmona said. "There are good things in the plan, but it needs a better business plan," he added.

Steve Farley: Would go for single payer

Tom O`Halleran: Fight replacing Medicare with a voucher scheme