Friday March 29, 2024

An Independent Progressive Media Outlet

FacebookTwitterYoutube
Newsletter
News Feeds:
GOP Presidential Candidates Would Take Wisconsin Health Care Back to the Dark Ages PDF Print E-mail
News - Articles for State & Local
Written by Citizen Action of Wisconsin, Robert Kraig   
Friday, 01 April 2016 10:58

healthcare-familyAll three announced candidates would return to days when people with health conditions had no guaranteed health coverage. Ted Cruz has most regressive health policy, while only Trump has plans to restrain prescription drug costs.


STATEWIDE - An analysis of health policy statements and platform positions by Citizen Action of Wisconsin finds that all three Republican candidates in the presidential primary want to pull the rug out from under hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who currently have guaranteed access to health coverage.

The chart below outlines the candidate’s positions.

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich all support completely repealing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which puts at risk more than 239,000 Wisconsinites who currently buy insurance from the federal marketplace. These Wisconsinites lack access to good insurance at work. Many of them have pre-existing conditions.

There is a much larger group of 1.3 million Wisconsinites with pre-existing conditions who may have good health coverage at work at present, but may need access to the federal marketplace in the future should their work lives change.

Despite this agreement on repeal of ACA, there is a difference between the three candidates on pre-existing conditions. Ted Cruz is the only remaining GOP candidate who does not even rhetorically support protecting people with pre-existing conditions from discrimination. Although Trump and Kasich have stated a desire to provide coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, neither has proposed a plan to do so once they repeal the ACA.

There are also differences between the Republican candidates on a rising health care issue: skyrocketing prescription drug costs. Donald Trump is the only GOP candidate who publicly supports allowing people to purchase prescription drugs from Canada. He is also the only GOP candidate who supports allowing Medicare to use its negotiating power to lower prescription drug prices for seniors.

“Despite their differences, it is clear that all three Republican candidates for president are willing to pull the rug out from under 239,000 Wisconsinites who buy their insurance on the federal marketplace without providing any clear alternative,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “It is also appears likely that all three candidates would take us back to the days when it was perfectly legal for health insurance companies to deny coverage to people with cancer and other pre-existing conditions. While the positions of Trump and Kasich are deeply concerning, Ted Cruz’s willingness to allow pre-existing condition discrimination is morally repugnant.”

Comparing GOP Primary Candidates plans on Health Care

Supports forcing more than 239,000 Wisconsinites off of the affordable health coverage  by repealing the Affordable Care Act. Source

Donald Trump

Yes

Source: Campaign Website

Ted Cruz

Yes

Source: Washington Post (1/30/16)

John Kasich

Yes

Source: Campaign Website

Has spoken in favor of protecting the 1.3 million Wisconsin consumers under 65 with pre-existing health conditions from the old market that discriminated and/or outright denied access to affordable coverage.

Donald Trump

Yes

Source: The Guardian (2/25/2016)

Ted Cruz

No

Source: Slate (1/28/16)

John Kasich

Yes

Source: Columbus Dispatch (9/15/15)

 

Has actually proposed a plan for protecting the 1.3 million Wisconsin consumers with pre-existing health conditions from discrimination.

Donald Trump

No

Source: Slate (3/15/16)

Ted Cruz

No

Source: Salon (3/6/16)

John Kasich

No

Source: USA Today (8/17/15)

In favor of allowing Wisconsinites to purchase prescription drugs from countries like Canada, where drugs like the high blood pressure medication Captopril can be as much as 10x less expensive. Source

Donald Trump

Yes

Source Campaign Website

Ted Cruz

Unknown


John Kasich

Unknown


In favor of allowing the federal government the power to negotiate down the price of prescription drugs for the over 1,050,020 Wisconsinites covered by Medicare. Source

Donald Trump

Yes

Politico (01/25/16)

Ted Cruz

No

Source: CNN Money (2/24/2016)

John Kasich

No

Source: CNN Money (2/24/2016)

Information compiled by Kevin Kane, Citizen Action of Wisconsin.

Last Updated on Friday, 01 April 2016 11:26
 
Copyright © 2024. Green Bay Progressive. Designed by Shape5.com