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Background on Health Care




Healthcare topics in the 2024 election cycle:

Anti-vaxxers: The anti-vaxxer movement became prominent during the coronavirus pandemic, although anti-vaccination advocates existed long before COVID-19. Some anti-vaxxers believe that vaccines cause conditions like childhood autism, but mostly anti-vaxxers support freedom of choice over healthcare mandates. Trump walked a fine line, attempting to acknowledge the anti-vaxxers (who generally supported Trump) while also taking credit for developing the COVID vaccine during his presidency (even though it didn't get delivered until after his term ended).

Public Health: The "freedom of choice" aspect of anti-vaxxers is extended to "freedom of choice" in public health in general. Republicans tend to conflate "public health" with "public options for ObamaCare" and further conclude that "public action on healthcare is socialism." "Freedom of choice" extends to public actions like fluoridation (a classic conservative complaint since the 1960s, re-surfaced by RFK Jr.) but does not extend to aid-in-dying, because that would offend those who oppose abortion choice.

Healthcare cost reduction: Democrats would have preferred to discuss what's next for ObamaCare and for healthcare costs, but the debate over the efficacy and existence of public health policies overwhlemed that focus. The big topic would have been negotiated Medicare prescription pricing, which was first accomplished in 2024 after many years of political discussion. "Negotiated prices" means that the federal government can demand lower prices because Medicare is such a big payer; most countries negotiate drug prices and the United States has finally joined the worldwide mainstream.

Gender-affirming health care: Democrats pushed for the next step in LGBT rights by treating "gender dysphoria" as a medical condition (that means the person feels their gender is assigned incorrectly, and might fix it by treatment or surgery). Republicans pushed back hard, focusing on whether minors could get gender treatment without parental consent, and whether prisoners and illegal immigrants could get gender treatment at public expense. The Democrats' focus is explored further in our LGBT rights section; the Republicans' focus is explored further in our Traditional Family Values section.



Healthcare topics in the 2020 election cycle:

CORONAVIRUS (facts as of Sept./Oct. 2020)

OBAMACARE HMOs & MANAGED CARE PATIENT’S BILL OF RIGHTS MEDICAID / MEDICARE EUTHANASIA TOBACCO SETTLEMENT

Click for books or references on Health Care:
  • Why ObamaCare is Wrong for America
  • Understanding Obamacare
  • The Great Experiment
  • ObamaCare introductory Wikipedia article with links to landmark court cases above
  • FirstQuoteHealth.com: "Medicare For All - The Benefits Of Coverage For Everyone"
  • FirstQuoteHealth.com: "Pre existing conditions before the Affordable Care Act"
  • Coronavirus statistics per country and per state
  • FAQs on coronavirus from the CDC
  • FDA information on coronavirus
  • Federal emergency information on coronavirus
  • Coronavirus vaccine candidates: (as of Sept 2020, 166 in phase I; 4 in phase II; 3 in phase III)
  • World Health Organization (WHO) coronoavirus information:
  • Snopes.com, "COVID-19 Is a Serious Threat … But So Are Memes Claiming It’s NOT", April 7, 2020
  • Healthline.com, "The Worst Outbreaks in U.S. History", April 9, 2020
  • Master's in Public Health Online, "OUTBREAK: 10 OF THE WORST PANDEMICS IN HISTORY," April 2020
  • Other candidates on Health Care: Background on other issues:
    2024 Presidential Nominees:
    Pres.Joe Biden (Democratic incumbent)
    V.P.Kamala Harris (Democratic nominee)
    Chase Oliver (Libertarian Party)
    Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (Independent)
    Dr.Jill Stein (Green Party)
    Pres.Donald Trump (Republican nominee)
    Sen.JD Vance (Republican V.P. nominee)
    Gov.Tim Walz (Democratic V.P. nominee)
    Dr.Cornel West (People's Party)

    2024 Presidential primary contenders:
    Gov.Doug Burgum (R-ND)
    Gov.Chris Christie (R-NJ)
    Gov.Ron DeSantis (R-FL)
    Larry Elder (R-CA)
    Rep.Will Hurd (R-FL)
    Gov.Nikki Haley (R-SC)
    Gov.Asa Hutchinson (R-AR)
    Perry Johnson (R-IL)
    Mayor Steve Laffey (R-RI)
    V.P.Mike Pence (R-IN)
    Rep.Dean Phillips (D-MN)
    Vivek Ramaswamy (R-)
    Sen.Tim Scott (R-SC)
    Secy.Corey Stapleton (R-MT)
    Mayor Francis Suarez (R-FL)
    Marianne Williamson (D-CA)

    2024 Presidential primary also-ran's or never-ran's:
    Ryan Binkley (R-TX)
    Howie Hawkins (Green Party)
    Joe Maldonado (Libertarian Party)
    Sen.Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
    Kanye West (Birthday Party)
    Abortion
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    Education
    Energy/Oil
    Environment
    Families
    Foreign Policy
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    Gun Control
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