Q) Do you support a public healthcare option as part of healthcare reform?
Yes I do.
First of all, I think it's important that people who are satisfied with the health plan they have know that they can keep that coverage.
We also need to have a public option that serves as a backstop-offering protection and coverage to many Americans who cannot get healthcare now-but what that plan will look like remains to be seen. It is important to remember that millions of people do not qualify for employee-based health programs and can't afford to buy their own insurance. Uninsured Americans have almost no access to health care, except in emergency situations. This in turn raises the costs for all Americans.
But providing coverage is only part of the solution. Health care costs account for nearly 17 percent of GDP, which is unsustainable. The increasing cost is hurting not only our families, but also our businesses and governments. As we take steps to expand coverage, we must also work to bring down costs - or else we're just going to keep spending a lot of money without addressing the underlying problem.
Q) If so, do you support a public healthcare option that is available on day one?
Again, the legislation coming out of these committees has yet to be seen. But I do believe that some sort of public option needs to be part of the proposal, along with a focus on bringing down health care costs and prevention.
Q) Do you support a public healthcare option that can bargain for rates from providers and big drug companies?
In offering insurance, yes, I do believe that a public option should negotiate for rates and drug prices, just as insurance companies do now. I have also been supportive of efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate better prescription drug prices. However, that is not enough to bring down the costs of the entire system for everyone. That is why health care reform must address all the different problems that raise costs and affect coverage, not just rely on one proposal to be a cure-all for the system.
With respect to prescription drugs, there are steps we can take now to lower prices. I have introduced the bi-partisan Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act, which allows for the importation of prescription drugs produced in FDA approved plants in other countries. We pay more than any other country for drugs. People are being forced to choose between food or medicine and putting their health at risk. By allowing for the importation of FDA approved drugs and inserting some competition into the market, it will offer access to the same FDA-approved drugs sold at a fraction of the cost in other countries, and also force the drug companies to lower their prices in the long run.
Q) Do you support a public healthcare option that is national, available everywhere, and accountable to Congress?
This option should be available nation-wide in order to be the most effective. It should be subject to effective regulations like our existing programs.
In other words, Byrdon Dorgan might have to be pushed on the trigger (see the response to the second question), but otherwise seems good. In should be noted that he didn't come out in favor of a trigger, either. It just isn't 100% clear.
Take a bow, North Decoder. You just got a Senator to make his first public statement in support of a public option.
We need to make it to 50 Senators in favor of a public option that is available on day one, is open to all Americans, and can bargain for prices. If you have a state blog, call your Senators, and put in a media request looking for answers to these four questions. Also, whether or not you have a state blog, keep pushing your Senators to answer these four questions with our handy email tool here.
