2008 Presidential Candidates Health Care Reform Platform
Comparative of NBCH’s Priority Issues
Broadly, health care, particularly reform, is a partisan, ideology-driven issue. According to the latest polls, health care ranks second behind Iraq for Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike. However, while health ranks well ahead of the economy and immigration for Democrats, it is more evenly regarded with these issues for Republicans.
When asked about the issues that will affect their vote for president in 2008, the list of issues is similar to those the public wants to hear candidates discuss – Iraq (29%), followed by health care and the economy (tied at 21 percent), with immigration (12%) somewhat further behind. Iraq is the top voting issue for Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike.1
The December 2007 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines the specific aspects of health care that the public wants candidates to address, as well as their perceptions of the presidential candidates on health care issues. Republicans are more interested in hearing about candidates’ views on reducing the cost of health care and health care insurance, while Democrats are more interesting in hearing about expansion of access to health care coverage for the uninsured. Surprisingly, compared to high interest in these two topics, there’s little interest by voters in both parties in improving health care quality and reducing medical errors.
However, improving the quality of health care is a high priority issue for NBCH and our member coalitions. In the password protected chart, we try to compare the current candidates based on the four value-driven health care issues (i.e. quality measurement, transparency, provider payment reform and consumerism). Bottom line, financing a health care reform plan seems to be the philosophical party chasm.
Additional 2008 Presidential Campaign Resources:
Kaiser Health Network's 2008 Presidential Candidate Health Care Proposals This website provides a comprehensive overview of candidate platforms, including a side-by-side comparison on health care- www.health08.org.
The Commonwealth Fund- Envisioning the Future: The 2008 Presidential Candidates' Health Reform Proposals
This report analyzes the health care proposals, namely their approaches to health care reform, of eight current and former Democratic and Republican 2008 presidential candidates—Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Rudolph Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Dennis Kucinich, John McCain, Barack Obama, and Mitt Romney. To access this article, please go to: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=647708&#doc647708
New England Journal of Medicine: Health Care in the 2008 Presidential Primaries
In this article, developed by the Harvard School of Public Health and the Kaiser Family Foundation, findings are reported from public opinion polls that assessed how health care issues may influence voters' choices in the 2008 presidential primaries. To access this article, please click here.
1 Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: Election 2008 - December 2007
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