Mark Kelly on Health Care

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.

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.

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.

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.

Medicare needn't be barred from negotiating drug prices

Employer health insurance should stay; improve care access

Ensure healthcare access, unsure of single-payer care