John Kerry on Health Care Jr Senator (MA), Democratic nominee for President

Sub-sections under Health Care:
• Health Insurance
• Voting Record
• Other issues under Health Care

Find common ground to cover 11 million uninsured children

Fight for affordable health care for all children

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.

Passed 56 individual bills that I've personally written

KERRY: Once again, Bush is misleading America. I've actually passed 56 individual bills that I've personally written and, in addition to that, and not always under my name, there are amendments on certain bills. But more importantly, with respect to the question of no record, I helped write- I did write, I was one of the original authors of the early childhood health care and the expansion of health care that we did in the middle of the 1990s. And I'm very proud of that. So Bush's wrong.

Lawsuits contribute less than 1% of all healthcare costs

Choose your doctor and your healthcare plan

KERRY: My health care plan is not what Bush described. It is not a government takeover. You have choice. Choose your doctor. Choose your plan. The government has nothing to do with it. In fact, it doesn't ask you to do anything. If you don't want to take it, you don't have to. If you like your high premiums, you keep ‘em. That's the way we leave it.

Health care is not a privilege but a right for all

Research, prevention, and wellness can reduce Medicare costs

A: You don't cut the benefits to people that you've promised. You can do things to guarantee that you keep Medicare solvent, as we've done. We did that in the US Congress. And we did it with respect to Social Security. If we had a medical care system in this country that dealt better with research, with prevention, with wellness, with the whole parameter of health care issues, we could begin to reduce the costs of Medicare

Day 1: Make health care a right, not a privilege

A: I will send to Congress a health care plan that stops spiraling costs, covers every child in America, and makes it possible for every American to get the same health care as any member of Congress. Making health care a right and not a privilege is something worth fighting for.

Simultaneously address costs, coverage, and choice

There are four ways we can deal with healthcare problems as a country.
• First, we can confront the issues of cost, access and quality in a piecemeal way, much as we did during most of the last decade.
• Second, we could try to overwhelm the problems with a massive expansion of the federal government's role in health care.
• Third, we could choose not to institute any reforms-the position of the Bush administration.
• I offer is a fourth proposal that simultaneously addresses three challenges: bringing costs under control; offering access to affordable coverage to every American; and guaranteeing that every child in America will have health insurance coverage.

Lack of accessible health care is a disgrace

FactCheck: Kerry's plan covers 95% of Americans, not 100%

FACT CHECK: Actually, his plan wouldn't cover all Americans. It would increase the percentage who have coverage from 84% currently to an estimated 92% to 95%. But several million would still be left uninsured.

Health care plan is not an empty promise and provide choice

Covering more people can lower health costs in many ways

It is morally wrong to leave so many Americans uninsured

Start providing health insurance for every child in America

Provide a bonus for states to get children insured

More help to those who fall through the cracks of the system

Save families up to $1,000 a year on their premiums

Catastrophic health coverage for all costs over $50,000

KERRY: No. My program is more ambitious, because what I would roll back Bush's tax cut for the wealthiest Americans, and create a federal fund that takes all the catastrophic cases in America out of the private system, which means, effectively, every individual in every business in America will be capped at $50,000 of risk. That will provide each American who has health care today with a $1,000 minimum reduction in their premium.

Q: Sen. Edwards, that is one of the major differences between your plan. Is that idea affordable?

EDWARDS: The issue becomes whether you believe health care is an isolated problem. For those in poverty and the struggling middle class, if one thing goes wrong-if they have a health care problem-they go right off the cliff. I mandate health care for all kids and cover the most vulnerable adults. But we also have to find ways to not only lift these families out of poverty.

Cut $350B of bureaucracy and cover 90% of Americans

We have the opportunity, if we act now, to make health care a fairly straightforward matter in the future. Here, in summary form, I my bottom line:
• All Americans will have access to the same health-care coverage that their member of Congress has today.
• A commitment to work until every American has affordable health insurance-starting with a plan that covers 99% of children and 96% of all Americans.
• Contain soaring health-care costs by making prescription drugs more affordable, getting rid of frivolous lawsuits, reducing uncompensated care, and giving patients affordable health-care choices.
• Releif to employers who offer affordable coverage to their employees by covering a portion of their highest cost cases.
• Save costs by cutting bureaucracy; that cuts nearly $350 billion a year out of the health-care system.

Cover more citizens with health plan like Congress gets

DEAN: When I came into office, Vermont had a program that insured everybody up to the age of 6 to 225% of the poverty [level]. I expanded that up to the age of 18 for 300% of the poverty [level]. That means if you live in a family that makes $54,000 a year or less in our state, everybody under the age of 18 gets coverage. In fact, Senator, about 96.4% of all our people are covered today, something which I intend to deliver to America when you all make me president.

Providing health care for kids is an ethical issue

Key issue: Does government control reduce cost?

Establish "report cards" on HMO quality of care.

Promote Universal Access and Quality in Health Care
That more than 40 million Americans lack health insurance is one of our society’s most glaring inequities. Lack of insurance jeopardizes the health of disadvantaged Americans and also imposes high costs on everyone else when the uninsured lack preventive care and get treatment from emergency rooms. Washington provides a tax subsidy for insurance for Americans who get coverage from their employers but offers nothing to workers who don’t have job-based coverage.

Markets alone cannot assure universal access to health coverage. Government should enable all low-income families to buy health insurance. Individuals must take responsibility for insuring themselves and their families whether or not they qualify for public assistance.

Finally, to help promote higher quality in health care for all Americans, we need reliable information on the quality of health care delivered by health plans and providers; a “patient’s bill of rights” that ensures access to medically necessary care; and a system in which private health plans compete on the basis of quality as well as cost.

Goals for 2010
• Reduce the number of uninsured Americans by two-thirds through tax credits, purchasing pools, and other means.
• Create a system of reliable “report cards” on the quality of care delivered by health plans and providers.

Invest funds to alleviate the nursing shortage.

• Amends Medicare to provide for nurse education training payments to qualified entities.
• Amends Medicaid to temporarily increase the matching rate for Medicaid nurse aide training and competency evaluation programs.
• Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide for the exclusion from gross income of amounts received under the National Nursing Service Corps Scholarship Program.
• Amends the Public Health Service Act to: (1) develop and issue public service announcements that advertise and promote the nursing profession, highlight the advantages and rewards of nursing, and encourage individuals from diverse communities and backgrounds to enter the nursing profession; and (2) award grants to designated eligible educational entities in order to increase the number of nurses.
• Establishes a National Nurse Service Corps Scholarship program that provides scholarships to individuals seeking nursing education in exchange for service by such individuals in areas with nursing shortages. Authorizes appropriations.

Rated 100% by APHA, indicating a pro-public health record.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals in the world, representing more than 50,000 members from over 50 occupations of public health. APHA is concerned with a broad set of issues affecting personal and environmental health, including federal and state funding for health programs, pollution control, programs and policies related to chronic and infectious diseases, a smoke-free society, and professional education in public health.

The following ratings are based on the votes the organization considered most important; the numbers reflect the percentage of time the representative voted the organization`s preferred position.

Let states make bulk Rx purchases, and other innovations.

To: The Honorable Tommy G. Thompson, Secretary, Department of Health & Human Services

Dear Secretary Thompson:

As you know, prescription drug costs have been surging at double-digit rates for the last six years. The average annual increase 1999 through 2003 was a massive 16%, seven times the rate of general inflation.

These increases fall hardest on senior citizens and the uninsured. Their health needs are often great, and their low incomes often make these products unaffordable. They have no ability to use their combined purchasing power to negotiate reasonable prices. Taxpayers pay tens of billions of dollars for the purchase of drugs by Medicaid—an expense that could be reduced significantly if states are permitted to negotiate for the best prices from drug manufacturers.

As you know, the Supreme Court has just ruled that Maine`s innovative program to reduce prescription drug costs for the uninsured and senior citizens is not a violation of the Medicaid law. As a result of this decision, Maine can use the combined buying power of Medicaid and individuals purchasing drugs on their own to negotiate lower prices with drug manufacturers. Twenty-nine other states supported the position taken by Maine, and there is broad interest in many states in initiating similar programs.

The Supreme Court`s ruling, however, left open the possibility that if the Department of Health and Human Services makes a finding that the Maine program violates the Medicaid statute, the Department`s action would be upheld by the Court. We urge you not to intervene to block Maine`s program or similar statutes in other states that achieve savings for taxpayers, the elderly, and the uninsured. Such programs must be carefully implemented to assure that the poor are not denied access to needed drugs, but there is no justification for the federal government to deny states the ability to negotiate lower drug prices on behalf of their neediest citizens.

Increase funding to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

S.AMDT.281 to S.CON.RES.23: To increase the budget allocation for programs to combat the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and to reduce the deficit.

Establish a national childhood cancer database.

Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2007 - A bill to advance medical research and treatments into pediatric cancers, ensure patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer database, and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers.

Authorizes the Secretary to award grants to childhood cancer professional and direct service organizations for the expansion and widespread implementation of:
1. activities that provide information on treatment protocols to ensure early access to the best available therapies and clinical trials for pediatric cancers;
2. activities that provide available information on the late effects of pediatric cancer treatment to ensure access to necessary long-term medical and psychological care; and
3. direct resource services such as educational outreach for parents, information on school reentry and postsecondary education, and resource directories or referral services for financial assistance, psychological counseling, and other support services.

Increase funding for occupational & physical therapy.

Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act of 2011 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to repeal the cap on outpatient physical therapy, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy services of the type furnished by a physician or as an incident to physicians` services.

SEC. 2. OUTPATIENT THERAPY CAP REPEAL.

Section 1833 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395(l)) is amended by striking subsection (g).

[Explanatory note from Wikipedia.com `Therapy Cap`]:

In 1997 Congress established per-person Medicare spending limits, or `therapy cap` for nonhospital outpatient therapy, but responding to concerns that some people with Medicare need extensive services, it has since placed temporary moratoriums on the caps. The therapy cap is a combined $1,810 Medicare cap for physical therapy and speech language pathology, and a separate $1,810 cap for occupational therapy ($1870 for 2011). Medicare patients requiring rehabilitation from disabilities, car accidents, hip injuries, stroke, and other ailments would be limited to roughly two months worth of treatments at an outpatient therapy clinic. Any patients that exceed the cap, whether they are healed or not, would have to stop therapy, or pay for the therapy services out of their own pocket.Several medical associations have lobbied against therapy caps because the bill inadvertently restricted disabled seniors, stroke patients, and other severe cases from receiving therapy treatments.

Preserve access to Medicaid & SCHIP during economic downturn.

A bill to preserve access to Medicaid and the State Children`s Health Insurance Program during an economic downturn.

• Economic Recovery in Health Care Act of 2008 - Prohibits finalizing, implementing, enforcing, or otherwise taking any action, prior to April 1, 2009, on any changes to Medicaid programs or State Children`s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
• Amends the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans` Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007 to extend through April 1, 2009, the moratorium relating to the cost limit for providers.
• Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 to extend through April 1, 2009, the moratorium relating to rehabilitation services, school-based administration, and school-based transportation.
• Provides for state fiscal relief through a temporary increase of Medicaid federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP).

Disclose payments from manufacturers to physicians.

An amendment to provide for transparency in the relationship between physicians and applicable manufacturers with respect to payments and other transfers of value and physician ownership or investment interests in manufacturers.
• Requires any manufacturer of a covered drug, device, biological, or medical supply that makes a payment or another transfer of value to a physician, a physician medical practice, or a physician group practice to report annually, in electronic form, specified information on such transactions to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
• Requires any such manufacturer, or related group purchasing organization, also to report annually to the Secretary, in electronic form, certain information regarding any ownership or investment interest (other than in a publicly traded security and mutual fund) held by a physician (or an immediate family member) in the manufacturer or group purchasing organization during the preceding year.
• Prescribes administrative penalties for failure to comply with these requirements.
• Requires report submission procedures to ensure public availability of required information on a website.

Expand the National Health Service Corps.

A bill to achieve access to comprehensive primary health care services for all Americans and to reform the organization of primary care delivery through an expansion of the Community Health Center and National Health Service Corps programs. Amends the Public Health Service Act to:
1. increase and extend the authorization of appropriations for community health centers and for the National Health Service Corps scholarship and loan repayment program for FY2010-FY2015, and provide for increased funding for such programs in FY2016 and each subsequent fiscal year; and
2. revise and expand provisions allowing a community health center to provide services at different locations, adjust its operating plan and budget, enter into arrangements with other centers to purchase supplies and services at reduced cost, and correct material failures in grant compliance.

Collect data on birth defects and present to the public.

Directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to carry out programs to:
• collect and analyze, and make available data on the causes of birth defects and on the incidence and prevalence of such defects;
• operate regional centers for the conduct of applied epidemiological research on the prevention of such defects;
• provide information and education to the public on the prevention of such defects;
• collect and analyze data by gender and by racial and ethnic group9/6/2004
• collect such data from birth and death certificates, hospital records, and such other sources; and
• (3) encourage States to establish or improve programs for the collection and analysis of epidemiological data on birth defects and to make the data available.