Politico.com: on Health Care

Alan Khazei: Healthcare reform more important than covering abortion

The two nonofficeholders running, City Year co-founder Alan Khazei and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca, have both said they'll support the bill even though the Stupak amendment. Khazei features his statement in the Stupak amendment prominently on the home page of his campaign website, while Pagliuca has run radio ads nailing both Coakley and Capuano for their stance on a health care bill that could ultimately help millions of Americans.

Alison Grimes: Kynect heroically for expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare

She warned that McConnell would take away coverage from half a million people who can now get prescriptions and visit doctor.

Interestingly, while "ObamaCare" is unpopular, the state's health expansion, called "Kynect," actually is. McConnell has gotten himself in hot water before by trying to draw a distinction between the federal law and the state program. While he criticized Medicaid expansion, he responded when asked if he would do away with Kynect: "It's a state decision. That's fine. I think it's fine to have a website. Yeah."

Amy Klobuchar: Medicare-for-all is aspirational and for the future, not now

Klobuchar's centrist positions puts her largely in a category alone, as many of her Democratic opponents have opted to fully embrace Medicare-for-all and the Green New Deal. But she may soon be joined in that group by other moderate candidates, such as Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.

On health care, Klobuchar said she wanted to "build on" the Affordable Care Act, highlighting her support for a public option, rather than calling for an immediate transition to Medicare-for-all. "It could be a possibility in the future," she said, "but I'm looking for what's working now."

Andrew Yang: We must give country a chance to recover from coronavirus

"We despair that our government will ever rise to the challenges of our time. But we must give this country, our country, a chance to recover--and recovery is only possible with a change of leadership and new ideas," Yang continued.

Ben Carson: I don't want to end Medicare, just make it more efficient

Bill Walker: 2015: expanded Medicaid himself after Legislature opted out

Walker opted to expand Medicaid himself in 2015 after the state Legislature opted not to pass a bill expanding the program. But Dunleavy has criticized the move during campaign events and said at a recent debate that "we need to make sure the programs we have in place are managed well." One of Dunleavy's six major policy planks is cutting state spending.

Walker said as he dropped out that Dunleavy would "cause the most vulnerable to suffer the brunt of the additional $1 billion in budget cuts he vows to make to education, rural Alaska and those receiving health care."

Bruce Braley: Vehemently opposes tort reform: don't take away right to sue

Cory Booker: Control healthcare cost; no comment on single-payer

One of the most contentious parts was over health insurance.
• Oliver and Pallone said they support a government-run insurance system but that it can't get passed now.
• Holt told them that their approach is "another way of saying we can only do things that we clear with the tea party."
• Booker called for controlling health care costs but avoided the single-payer debate.

Donald Trump: Republicans will always support Pre-Existing Conditions

"The Republicans are developing a really great HealthCare Plan with far lower premiums (cost) & deductibles than ObamaCare," Trump continued. "In other words it will be far less expensive & much more usable than ObamaCare. Vote will be taken right after the Election when Republicans win back the House."

Trump wrote online that the Republican proposal "will be truly great HealthCare that will work for America," and that "Republicans will always support Pre-Existing Conditions."

The president's comments come after his Justice Department endorsed a federal court ruling to eliminate ObamaCare in its entirety; Trump declared that the Republican Party "will soon be known as the party of health care."

Eddie Rispone: Medicaid expansion "bungled," and is unsustainable

Gavin Newsom: We will lead a massive expansion of health care

Consider the national attention it garnered when Newsom signed an executive order in March halting executions-- sparing 737 people on California's death row. Witness the proclamation his office wrote last month "welcoming women to California to fully exercise their reproductive rights" after a wave of conservative states took steps to limit abortion. Newsom is outspoken on immigration, traveling to El Salvador earlier this year in his first international trip as governor.

"We're going to get it,'' Newsom insists. "We're committed to universal health care. Universal health care means everybody--We will lead a massive expansion of health care, and that's a major deviation from the past.''

Hillary Clinton: Non-employer system better; but don't turn back ObamaCare

Clinton suggested she's open to different ways of achieving the health law's goals. She praised Arkansas for carrying out a new approach to expanding Medicaid coverage, by using the federal money to buy private health insurance for more than 100,000 low-income residents.

But the main goal, Clinton said, should be to keep moving ahead with the law. And in a subtle swipe at the Obama administration, she suggested that the law's supporters haven't done the best job explaining what Americans stand to gain from it. "We have to do a better job than has been done, quite frankly, in explaining the benefits," Clinton said.

Jason Carter: ObamaCare a "mess" that needs fixing

John Fleming: If Supreme Court bans ObamaCare subsidies, let them die

Some Republicans worry that any legislation that extends the subsidies, even temporarily, would not only box the party into keeping them indefinitely but also water down the party's opposition to the president's health law. "We do get into a little trouble on the messaging because people say: 'What is the difference between that and what we're already doing?'" said Rep. John Fleming (R-LA). "Whether you continue subsidies or you use tax credits, they're all tax credit programs one way or another."

Kay Hagan: I'd vote for ObamaCare again, but do "sensible fixes"

Hagan and her party are hoping she'll be spared despite the problems with ObamaCare. Some 473,000 state residents have recently been told their health policies would be canceled after the president and Hagan pledged that people who liked their plans could keep them. "She appears to be a pawn in the hands of the Obama administration," [said one GOP opponent].

Acknowledging the problems with ObamaCare, Hagan said she's working on "sensible fixes" and insisted that the outcome of the campaign wouldn't turn exclusively on the Affordable Care Act. Instead, she pointed to her work on local issues. When pressed about whether she would back the health care law if she had another chance, Hagan said: "Yeah, I would vote for it again. People have to realize that the cost of health care was getting out of reach for everybody."

Martha Coakley: Require health insurance to cover abortion

State Attorney General Martha Coakley laid down the first marker by declaring soon after the House vote last week that she wou the bill because of the amendment restricting the sale of insurance policies covering abortion through the proposed national health insurance exchange--or to women who receive health care subsidies from the federal government. Asked with a Boston radio station whether she would have voted for the bill, Coakley said, "I believe that I would not. I think that this particular amendment that was put in is really a poison pill for that bill, and it's taking two ste

Mary Landrieu: AdWatch: Promised wrongly that all can keep insurance

The Landrieu spot ties the Louisiana senator to President Barack Obama's rhetoric about Americans being able to keep their health care plans under the Affordable Care Act.

In 2013, AFP spent millions on ads targeting Landrieu and Hagan and in 2014 is including Shaheen in its barrage. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee arm sent out a flurry of fundraising emails as 2013 wound down warning about the spending of groups like AFP, which is backed by the conservative billionaire Koch brothers.

Michael Capuano: Healthcare reform more important than covering abortion

But after a b and abortion-rights groups, Capuano quickly repositioned himself and told local media that he wouldn't vote for the bill if the anti-abortion amendment remained in the final version. "This demonstrates her fundamental lack of unders legislative process," Capuano said. "Unlike a prosecutor, a legislator must have the skills to build consensus and the courage to make difficult decisions and the wisdom to know when to choose progress over perfection."

Mike Bloomberg: We can never afford to replace employer-based health system

The billionaire slammed a Medicare-for-All proposal floated by 2020 candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), saying the country could "never afford" replacing the employer-offered health care system in its entirety.

The Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat supports Medicare for those without health insurance, but he does not want to do away with the employer-provided model.

Bloomberg said, "I'm a little bit tired of listening to things are pie in the sky, that we never are going to pass, are never going to afford. I think it's just disingenuous to promote those things. You've got to do something that's practical."

Mike Pence: Healthy Indiana: expand Medicaid but with "skin in the game"

Mitch McConnell: ObamaCare's Kynect is a state decision, but yeah, it's ok

McConnell also disputed the idea that Beshear's program has covered 500,000 more people, arguing that many of them are now paying more for lower-quality coverage. Democrats pounced, with Beshear saying in a post-debate statement: "Tonight, Mitch McConnell looked into the camera and misled Kentucky about his plan to take Kynect from more than 500,000 Kentuckians who have gained health care in the last year."

Rebecca Holcombe: Scary anyone in public office would doubt value of vaccines

Rick Perry: Ban air travel to Ebola-stricken countries, except doctors

Previously, Perry had called for stepped-up screenings at points of entry to the United States. Perry had shied away from calling for a full-on travel ban, though that was something other Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, have been urging.

Perry and Obama spoke on the phone on Thursday. Obama has told reporters that he still wasn't supporting a travel ban at this point, though he didn't have a "philosophical objection" to it and could change his mind.

This Ebola briefing comes after Obama tapped a "czar" to spearhead a response to the outbreak of the disease, at least three cases of which have appeared in Texas.

Rick Scott: AdWatch: "Let's Get to Work" opposing ObamaCare

"Charlie Crist stands with Obama," the female narrator says in one of the ads, titled "Charlie Crist Supports ObamaCare."

The Republican Party of Florida and Scott's committee plan a combined six-figure digital buy.

Earlier, Scott's committee had a broadcast and cable buy for "He's an Opportunist," launched the day Crist--a former Republican and former independent--announced.

Russell Feingold: 2010: I knew that over time, ObamaCare would work out

That race, like many others, turned on voter anger toward Washington, including the raw emotions over Obamacare, which Feingold voted to enact. "Oh no," Feingold said when asked whether he would have voted differently on the law looking back at it now. "I stood with my vote on the Affordable Care Act in 2010. I was one of the only candidates to do that," Feingold said. "I understand people have been lied to repeatedly [from Republicans] about what was in the bill. I regretted that, but it was fairly stated that over time that it would work out. That's exactly what's happened."

Stephen Pagliuca: Healthcare reform is more important than covering aborti

Steve Pagliuca, have both said they'll support the bill even though they disagree with the Stupak amendment. Khazei features his statement in the Stupak amendment pro page of his campaign website, while Pagliuca has run radio ads nailing both Coakley and Capuano for their stance on a health care bill that could ultimately help millions of Americans. "Two of my opponents for the U.S. Senate are pu legislation at risk," Pagliuca says in the one-minute ad. "The next senator from Massachusetts represents a vital 60th vote to provide health care to over 30 million Americans who don't have it and to help lower spiraling health ca

Steve Bullock: Protect ObamaCare before pushing to expand further

But when I ask about the substance of Sanders' push for a universal Medicare system, he grows philosophical. "Divorce process and substance, and I think that we all know we spend way too much on health care. When we look at how the middle class hasn't gotten ahead for the most part, look at how health care costs have been going up--maybe that could have gone to, actually, wages. We all know we're probably the only industrialized nation that doesn't provide health care. There's a lot of ways to get there," he says. He then, unprompted, turns to the idea of liberal purity tests, amid talk among Sanders' supporters of punishing Democrats who opposed Medicare for All.

Thom Tillis: Voting for ObamaCare is a fire-able offense

10 things to know about Thom Tillis:
• Not born in North Carolina. Tillis was actually born in Jacksonville FL, and moved 18 times before graduating high school. He didn't settle in N.C. until 1998.
• Played a role in the state constitutional same-sex marriage ban. As speaker, he supported the ban and helped lead the state House to put the amendment on the ballot.
• Said "proudest moment" was support from a pro-life group, National Right to Life: 'More than any organization I can think of, I'm proud that they recognize the work that we've done to save the lives of the unborn."
• Called the Affordable Care Act Sen. Kay Hagan's "fireable offense." An MSNBC commentator asked Tillis what Hagan's "fireable offense" was: "First, her decisive vote on ObamaCare," Tillis said, adding that a big part of his job as Speaker is "cleaning up Kay Hagan's mess when she was sitting in the state Senate."
• Helped draft a major tax reform bill to reduce individual and corporate rates.

Mark Lamb: Calls vaccine mandates garbage, spoke at anti-vax rally

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, he publicly resisted Arizona's mask mandates and stay-at-home orders -- before catching Covid himself last year, which he discovered when he was denied entry to the White House for a meeting with Trump.