With Rock Star Fanfare, Clinton Talks Health Care On The Campaign Trail

Topics: Health Costs, Medicare, Politics, Health Reform

Sep 12, 2012

Speaking to what the New York Times described as a sellout crowd in Florida, former President Bill Clinton reprised many of his convention speech themes regarding how the health law is strengthening Medicare and providing benefits to millions of Americans. The Obama campaign is expected to continue to rely on Clinton as a surrogate in battleground states.

The New York Times: Embracing Role As Surrogate, Clinton Hits Campaign Trail
Speaking to a sellout crowd of 2,300 at Florida International University, Mr. Clinton reprised much of the detail-laden defense of Mr. Obama’s first term that he delivered in Charlotte, N.C. He lavished special attention on two particularly resonant issues in a state with many students and older voters: education loans and health care. Repealing Mr. Obama’s health care law, as Mitt Romney has pledged to do, would “weaken Medicare; it’s going to run out of money quicker,” Mr. Clinton said. The Republicans, he said, would cut off the access of students to low-interest federal loans, which could put college out of reach for many middle-income people (Landler, 9/11).

Los Angeles Times: Bill Clinton Focuses On Medicare In Speech For Obama In Florida
Launching a two-day campaign swing in senior-heavy Florida, former President Clinton pushed back Tuesday against what he described as Republican scare tactics over healthcare programs for older Americans — then provided his own frightening predictions about what would happen to seniors if Mitt Romney became president. Clinton said the Republican nominee was misleading voters by arguing that President Obama’s healthcare overhaul “robbed Medicare of $716 billion,” noting that the money would mainly be cut from future payments to hospitals and insurance companies, not beneficiaries. The issue has particular resonance in this state, which has the largest proportion of over-65 voters in the country (West, 9/11).

The Washington Post: In Election’s Last Weeks, Obama Campaign Deploys Bill Clinton To Battleground States
For 41 statistic-filled, wonky minutes, former president Bill Clinton held forth to an adoring crowd at Florida International University about the economy, health care, taxes and the national debt, reprising remarks he made on behalf of President Obama at last week’s Democratic National Convention. An appreciative Obama borrowed a Twitter joke and gave Clinton the new “secretary” nickname. … Obama campaign officials believe that the former president’s popularity is near universal and that he can be successfully deployed in all the major battlegrounds of the nation. In addition to Florida, they indicated that he will campaign in Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire and will headline fundraisers on both coasts (Helderman, 9/11).

This is part of Kaiser Health News’ Daily Report – a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day’s news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.

English: Official White House photo of President Bill Clinton, President of the United States. Русский: Президент США Билл Клинтон,официальное фото Белого Дома. Ελληνικά: Επίσημη φωτογραφία Λευκού Οίκου του Προέδρου Μπιλ Κλίντον, Προέδρου των ΗΠΑ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Romney Points To Mass. Law To Defend Positions On Women’s Health Issues

Topics: Health Costs, Politics, Health Reform, States

Aug 27, 2012

On the eve of the Republican convention, GOP presumptive presidential nominee Mitt Romney embraced the health law he signed while governor of Massachusetts as evidence that he would protect women’s access to health care.

Politico: Romney Touts His Health Care Plan
On the eve of the Republican convention in Tampa, Fla., Mitt Romney abruptly embraced his Massachusetts health care law in response to President Barack Obama’s attacks that Republicans have declared a “war on women” (Gibson and Samuelsohn, 8/26).

National Journal: Romney Says He’s Proud Of Mass. Health Care Law
Mitt Romney said he is “proud” of the health care plan he signed into law as governor of Massachusetts, and cited it as evidence that would protect women’s health as President in an interview on Fox News Sunday. “I’m the guy who was able to get health care for all the women and men in my state,” Romney said, adding that he, “did it without cutting Medicare and without raising taxes” (Mazmanian, 8/26).

The Hill (Video): Romney Cites Mass. Law To Defend Stance On Women’s Health Issues
Mitt Romney rebuffed Democratic suggestions that the GOP ticket was weak on women’s health issues by touting his Massachusetts healthcare reforms, in an interview with Fox News. In an interview taped last week and aired on Fox News Sunday, Romney was asked by host Chris Wallace how he answered “the Obama charge that they offer more support, more choice to women when it comes to abortion, rape, or birth control or women’s health.” “In regards to women’s healthcare, look I’m the guy who was able to get healthcare for all the women and men in my state,” said Romney (Mali, 8/26).

CNN: Romney Says He’s ‘Very Proud’ Of Mass. Health Care Law
Romney pointed to the health care law after being asked about Democratic-led attacks that accuse the GOP of launching a so-called war on women. “Look, I’m the guy that was able to get health care for all of the women and men in my state,” Romney said on Fox News. “They’re just talking about it at the federal level. We actually did something, and we did it without cutting Medicare and without raising taxes.” Romney rarely brings up the Bay State health care plan, given that it served in part as a blueprint for President Barack Obama’s sweeping health care reform, which Romney now says he would work to repeal (Killough, 8/26).

CBS: Romney: Mass. Health Reform Helped Women Without Cutting Medicare
Mitt Romney on Sunday pointed to the health care reforms he implemented in Massachusetts as proof that his policies would benefit women, even as he blasted President Obama’s federal health care reforms. The difference between the two plans, Romney said, was that his Massachusetts reforms protected Medicare, the popular government health care program for seniors. “With regards to women’s health care, look, I’m the guy that was able to get health care for all of the women and men in my state,” Romney said on Fox News Sunday (Condon, 8/26).

Meanwhile, Politico offered a hard look at a similarity between the Massachusetts health reforms measure and the 2010 health law –

Politico: Mitt Romney’s Law Has An ‘Unelected Board’ Too
Mitt Romney is on the warpath against President Barack Obama’s “unelected board” of health care bureaucrats — but his own Massachusetts health care law has been blasted more than a few times for the same reason. It’s another reminder that, as much as Romney is trying to campaign against “Obamacare,” there’s almost always some similarity in “Romneycare” that can come back to bite him (Cheney, 8/24).

This is part of Kaiser Health News‘ Daily Report – a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day’s news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.

Romney (Photo credit: Talk Radio News Service)

Drawing Health Policy Distinctions Between Obama, Romney

Topics: Insurance, Marketplace, Politics, Health Reform

Jul 30, 2012

The National Journal notes the two presidential candidates offer clear contrasts when it comes to their positions regarding health insurance. Meanwhile, Roll Call notes that the reported differences in opinions among the Supreme Court justices when they reviewed the health law continue to reverberate during this campaign season.

National Journal: Obama, Romney Contrasts Clear On Insurance
When the Obama campaign hits expected Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for being the candidate supporting the rich, they aren’t often talking about health insurance. But they could be. It is one place where a comparison between Obama and Romney’s health policies can be easily seen. And it fits right in with the narrative the Obama campaign has been weaving: Obama is for the everyman, and Romney is for the rich. The details on Romney’s plan are vague. His campaign website says he wants to “end the discrimination against the individual purchase of insurance.” Under current law, people who get their insurance through employers pay their premiums tax-free. The 30 million Americans who buy insurance on their own don’t get those same benefits (McCarthy, 7/28).

Roll Call: Health Care: The Justices Underscore A Divide
California is not exactly the epicenter of the controversy surrounding the 2010 health care law. None of the lawsuits that led to the Supreme Court’s decision last month upholding the law came from the West Coast. Unlike so many other governors, the state’s chief executive, Democrat Jerry Brown, has supported the law and plans to implement it. Other issues, particularly the economy, are dominating the political discourse there. Still, the two national parties and their allies are hoping that the tremors of the debate will be felt in several of the state’s Congressional districts, an unusually large number of which are competitive this year as a result of redistricting (Adams, 7/30).

This is part of Kaiser Health News‘ Daily Report – a summary of health policy coverage from more than 300 news organizations. The full summary of the day’s news can be found here and you can sign up for e-mail subscriptions to the Daily Report here. In addition, our staff of reporters and correspondents file original stories each day, which you can find on our home page.