The Philadelphia Inquirer offers an analysis on the Candidate’s Position on health care. The following is a summary the article:
Health insurance
- Clinton: Wants to improve the Affordable Care Act. She wants to reduce the cost of health insurance purchased on exchanges and provide a tax credit of up to $5,000 a family to offset out-of-pocket costs and premiums above 5% of household income. She would expand tax credits and cap the cost of premiums at 8.5% of family income. She calls for fixing the “family glitch” so families can access coverage in the exchanges when their employer’s family plan is not affordable. She would allow undocumented immigrants to buy insurance through the exchanges. In what is seen as a nod to Bernie Sanders’ supporters, she is affirming support for a public option that would allow people as young as 55 to buy health insurance through Medicare.
- Trump: Opposes requiring people to buy health insurance. He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act. He proposes to make coverage more affordable by allowing sales of health insurance across state lines and permitting people to deduct health insurance premium payments from their taxes. He would emphasize tax-deductible health savings accounts (HSA) where funds could accumulate if they are not used. He wants to require price transparency by health-care providers so that people can shop around for the best prices. He also wants would-be immigrants to certify that they can pay for their own health care.
Prescription drugs
- Clinton: Wants to eliminate tax breaks that pharmaceutical companies get for direct-to-consumer advertising, and require those that benefit from federal research spending to reinvest profits into research. She would ban legal settlements in which pharma companies pay competitors so they will hold off on introducing generics and would allow consumers to import cheaper drugs from countries such as Canada. She supports allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices and would cap out-of-pocket costs for people with chronic health problems.
- Trump: Calls for a free market for prescription drugs, including allowing consumers to import them from countries that regulate prices. This practice is now illegal, though the law is not firmly enforced.
Medicaid
- Clinton: Supports president Obama’s proposal to let states that sign up for Medicaid expansion to get a 100% match for the first three years. She would expand access to Medicaid and children’s health insurance.
- Trump: Wants states to get federal Medicaid funding through block grants, which could mean fewer dollars for many states, but would give local officials more authority over expenditures.
Medicare
- Clinton: Has vowed to fight proposals to privatize or phase out Medicare, and would give Medicare the power to negotiate lower drug costs.
- Trump: Is against abolishing Medicare.
Social Security
- Clinton: Opposes privatizing Social Security, reducing annual cost-of-living adjustments, and raising the retirement age. Clinton would expand Social Security for some, such as widows and caregivers, and help to fund the benefit through a wealth tax.
- Trump: Has voiced support for Social Security and called it “honoring a deal.” He has said that Republicans cannot win elections if they seek to change it substantially.
Veterans Administration
- Clinton: Says she would ensure more timely benefits, block privatization efforts, and strengthen services for military families and employment programs for veterans.
- Trump: Has vowed to reform the agency and make it more efficient in delivering service and employment assistance.
Abortion
- Clinton: Wants to protect access to safe and legal abortion.
- Trump: Back in 1999, he told Meet the Press that, despite his personal dislike of abortion, “I’m very pro-choice.” More recently, he announced, “I am pro-life.” This year, Trump he said on MSNBC that if abortion were banned, women who violated the law would have to be punished. Soon after, his campaign released a statement saying that providers, not patients, should be held liable. His running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has backed some of the nation’s toughest abortion restrictions.
HIV/AIDS
- Clinton: Her proposals include funding research to seek a cure; finding more affordable treatment, including capping prescription costs; urging all states to extend Medicaid coverage for people living with HIV; and increasing use of HIV prevention medication.
- Trump: Has not issued a policy on HIV and AIDS, though some in the advocacy media say his goals of lowering prescription drug costs and increasing transparency about health care pricing could be beneficial.
Medical research funding
- Clinton: Advocates increasing funding for Alzheimer’s research to $2 billion a year, paying for care-planning services through Medicare, and funding a federal program to help locate Alzheimer’s patients who wander.
- Trump: Has called funding for Alzheimer’s research “a total top priority,” but he has not offered many specifics about policies he would pursue. He has alarmed the research community with scientifically unfounded statements about Ebola, autism, and climate change.
Autism
- Clinton: Has called for a nationwide early-screening campaign. She wants to push all states to require health insurance coverage for autism services, help get adults on the autism spectrum connected to employment opportunities, and fund more research.
- Trump: In tweets and during a presidential debate, Trump has linked autism to some vaccinations, a tie that has been widely debunked by international medical authorities and advocates, such as Autism Speaks, a group that Trump has supported.
Addiction and drugs
- Clinton: Would increase funds for addiction treatment and prevention, and emphasize rehabilitation over prison for low-level and non-violent drug offenses. She wants more preventive services for adolescents, opioid antidotes for all first responders, and more training for drug prescribers.
- Trump: In New Hampshire, Trump vowed to fight addiction on two fronts saying, “First, we have to support locally based and locally run clinics, and we have got to close the border. That’s where the drugs are coming from.”
Medical marijuana
- Clinton: Supports the use of medical marijuana.
- Trump:.Supports the use of medical marijuana.
Family and medical leave
- Clinton: Advocates a paid family and medical leave of up to 12 weeks with at least a two-thirds wage replacement rate. She proposes paying for the plan with taxes on the wealthy.
- Trump: He told Stuart Varney on Fox News last year, “Well, it’s something that’s being discussed. I think we have to keep our country very competitive, so you have to be careful of it.”
Federal funding of Planned Parenthood
Clinton: Supports federal funding of Planned Parenthood.
Trump: At a news conference on Super Tuesday, Trump said he would not give federal funds to Planned Parenthood because the organization performs abortions. But he praised the health care it provides, saying, “millions and millions of women – cervical cancer, breast cancer – are helped by Planned Parenthood.”