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Clinton vs. Trump: Your Health Care in Their Hands
While the next President of the United States will certainly be able to make their mark on the country, perhaps no issue will be as important as health care.
Candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have widely different views on the direction the healthcare industry needs to go. Clinton hopes to make access to health care more universal and closer to systems in ally countries, while Trump hopes to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, a mantra the Republican party has chanted for years now but, before Trump, offered no viable replacement plans.
If health care is a major concern for you in the next election, take a look below of a summary of each candidate’s proposals, so you can go to into the voting booth confident you’re choosing the right candidate.
Hillary Clinton lays out an ambitious agenda on her official campaign website regarding numerous facets of the healthcare industry. Her campaign highlights 12 specific areas of focus, including some non-hot-button issues like “Addiction and substance abuse,” “HIV and AIDS” and “An end to Alzheimer’s disease.”
The broadest section of her platform is simply titled, “Health Care,” where Clinton hopes to bring “[u]niversal, quality, affordable health care for everyone in America.”
This section touches on one of the key differences between Clinton and Trump on health care: the Affordable Care Act.
Clinton’s position is that she will “defend and expand the Affordable Care Act, which covers 20 million people.” Adding from the site:
“Hillary will stand up to Republican-led attacks on this landmark law—and build on its success to bring the promise of affordable health care to more people and make a ‘public option’ possible. She will also support letting people over 55 years old buy into Medicare.”
Along with this, Clinton lists eight more key initiatives:
- Bring down out-of-pocket costs like copays and deductibles.
- Reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
- Protect consumers from unjustified prescription drug price increases from companies that market long-standing, life-saving treatments and face little or no competition.
- Fight for health insurance for the lowest-income Americans in every state by incentivizing states to expand Medicaid.
- Expand access to affordable health care to families regardless of immigration status.
- Expand access to rural Americans, who often have difficulty finding quality, affordable health care.
- Defend access to reproductive health care.
- Double funding for community health centers, and support the healthcare workforce.
Along with the aforementioned key initiatives, Clinton’s healthcare plan also details specifics on:
- Climate change – Taking on the threat of climate change and making America the world’s clean energy superpower.
- Poverty – No child should ever have to grow up in poverty.
- Disability rights – We must continue to expand opportunities for Americans with disabilities.
- Mental health – We have to address the mental health crisis in America and end the stigma and shame associated with treatment.
- Veterans, the armed forces, and their families – America must fully commit to supporting veterans.
- Autism – Millions of Americans live with autism—and we’ve got to do more to support them and their families.
- Paid family and medical leave – It’s time to guarantee paid family and medical leave in America.
- Women’s rights and opportunity – We need to break down barriers that hold women back.
Trump also has a wide-ranging plan that begins with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which he says has “tragically but predictably resulted in runaway costs, websites that don’t work, greater rationing of care, higher premiums, less competition and fewer choices.”
Trump lists five key initiatives as part of his overall plan:
- Repeal and replace Obamacare with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
- Work with Congress to create a patient-centered health care system that promotes choice, quality, and affordability.
- Work with Congress to create a patient-centered health care system that promotes choice, quality, and affordability.
- Allow people to purchase insurance across state lines, in all 50 states, creating a dynamic market.
- Maximize flexibility for states via block grants so that local leaders can design innovative Medicaid programs that will better serve their low-income citizens.
Trump also provides an expanded paper where he expounds on these five proposals. You can read the entire paper here.
In recent weeks, news has come that insurance premiums across most of the country will rise dramatically. These changes come after several large insurance companies dropped out of the exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act. While Democrats are wary of the changes, they say not to worry and that the price increases are in line with projections debated in 2009. Republicans understandably are pouncing on the news as proof they were right all along about one of President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievements.
Both camps have legitimate arguments and both candidates understand the healthcare system needs improvement. It remains to be seen who voters think has the better plan.
For more on Election 2016: