State of Delaware Archives: on Health Care

Julianne Murray: COVID: Reopen the state, focus on nursing homes

Ms. Murray sought on several occasions to portray Gov. Carney as out-of-touch, attacking his handling of the pandemic. Ms. Murray called for reopening the state, saying officials should concentrate their efforts on nursing homes, which have seen a disproportionate share of COVID-related deaths. Source: Delaware State News on 2020 Delaware Gubernatorial race Oct 29, 2020

John Carney: COVID: We'll follow the science and wear masks

On COVID: "We'll continue to follow the science and wear masks. It's a small sacrifice to protect our neighbors. This is not a partisan political issue. It's a public health crisis," said Gov. John Carney, who is running for a second term in office. "[We'll] stay focused on a healthy community and a strong economy. You can't be either/or; we have to have both."

Julianne Murray more information is needed on the acuity of the disease and who is really at risk instead of a general fearmongering throughout the greater population. "Mask wearing should be voluntary," she said. "Who we need to be concerned about here is our vulnerable population, and our vulnerable population is people with pre-existing conditions and the elderly."

Source: Cape Gazette on 2020 Delaware Gubernatorial race Oct 17, 2020

Julianne Murray: COVID: Mask wear should be voluntary

On COVID: Julianne Murray more information is needed on the acuity of the disease and who is really at risk instead of a general fearmongering throughout the greater population. "Mask wearing should be voluntary," she said. "Who we need to be concerned about here is our vulnerable population, and our vulnerable population is people with pre-existing conditions and the elderly."

"We'll continue to follow the science and wear masks. It's a small sacrifice to protect our neighbors. This is not a partisan political issue. It's a public health crisis," said Gov. John Carney, who is running for a second term in office. "[We'll] stay focused on a healthy community and a strong economy. You can't be either/or; we have to have both."

Source: Cape Gazette on 2020 Delaware Gubernatorial race Oct 17, 2020

James DeMartino: Government bureaucracy cannot control healthcare

Small businesses have struggled due to the cost of insurance and individuals have suffered financially due to exorbitant premiums and deductibles. We need insurance companies to provide effective coverage and competitive pricing. Government bureaucracy cannot control healthcare, medical decisions must be made by medical professionals. Individuals should be able to select the coverage they need and know what they are paying for with itemized bills. Source: 2020 Delaware Senate campaign website VoteDeMartino.com Aug 20, 2020

David Lamar Williams: Provide advanced health care options for all

David is proud to support and push for change to provide advanced health care options for all. He supports the opportunity to choose and maintain quality, affordable standards for health care, innovation, health insurance, prescription, and longterm care. He supports the effort to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. This is a very serious issue that has been impacting our nation and he is committed to understanding the needs of the community and making them aware of their options. Source: 2020 Delaware gubernatorial campaign website Mar 25, 2020

David Lamar Williams: Legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes

David is proud to support and push for change to provide advanced health care options for all. He supports the opportunity to choose and maintain quality, affordable standards for health care, innovation, health insurance, prescription, and long term care. He supports the effort in the state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. Source: 2020 Delaware Gubernatorial campaign website Mar 5, 2020

John Carney: Reduced rates has led to almost 95% with insurance

Nothing causes more fear or anxiety than when you or a loved one gets sick. We reduced rates on the ACA health insurance marketplace by almost 20 percent this year. Because of that--while ACA enrollment rates have declined nationally--we saw a more than 6 percent increase in Delawareans buying health insurance on the exchange. Today, almost 95 percent of Delawareans have health insurance. That's a big deal.

Access to quality healthcare is also about having doctors in your community. In some areas of our state, we simply don't have enough physicians. We will create a healthcare provider loan repayment program. We want to attract some of the best and brightest young doctors to areas where they're needed the most.

Source: 2020 Delaware State of the State address Jan 23, 2020

Jessica Scarane: Medicare for All and single payer system

Medicare for All including comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and mental health care
Lower the price of prescription drugs by allowing our single payer system to negotiate with drug companies
Import drugs from other industrialized countries to lower prices and provide patients with more options
Hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for predatory practices and price gouging
Decommodify medical research and destroy patent monopolies

Source: 2020 Senate campaign website JessForDelaware.com Dec 13, 2019

Jessica Scarane: Healthcare is a right, not a place for profits

Import drugs from other industrialized countries to lower prices and provide patients with more options

Hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for predatory practices and price gouging

Decommodify medical research and destroy patent monopolies Source: 2020 Delaware Senate campaign website JessForDelaware.com Nov 30, 2019

John Carney: Need to address high cost of health care

Part of having a good quality of life is making sure Delawareans can access and afford quality healthcare. Delaware consistently spends more than most other states on healthcare costs. That's why I signed an executive order setting both quality and spending benchmarks for the entire healthcare system. We're doing this by improving transparency around the cost of health care services. We need to know what factors are driving these higher costs and how we can change the trends. Source: 2019 State of the State address to Delaware legislature Jan 17, 2019

Rob Arlett: Repeal ObamaCare; get market-based insurance across states

As your Senator, Rob will go to Washington to repeal the Affordable Care Act with free-market based health insurance model allowing the purchase of insurance across state lines. ÿ This will open up the health insurance market beyond the one insurance provider in the State of Delaware. Rob will also fight to enact health tort reform which will remove the costly premiums already in cost health care and insurance plans. Source: 2018 Delaware Senate Campaign website RobArlett.com Sep 1, 2018

Gene Truono: Competition and full price disclosure in health care

Gene will fight for price disclosure and competition in both healthcare and the prescription drug marketplace. Gene believes healthcare must be affordable and accessible to everyone. Source: 2018 Delaware Senate campaign website VoteTruono.com Apr 4, 2018

Chuck Boyce: Replace parts of ObamaCare with catastrophic insurance

Reform healthcare by requiring price transparency in the industry.
Shifting toward a direct primary care and a catastrophic insurance option would unburden families with the cost of care.

Would encourage subsidizing and guaranteeing medic Source: 2018 Delaware Senate campaign website ChuckForSenate.us Aug 8, 2017

Lisa Blunt Rochester: ObamaCare is not perfect, but it is a huge step forward

Protecting ObamaCare: "A healthy Delaware is a stronger Delaware. We need to protect ObamaCare from radical Republican attacks and work to make it stronger and more effective for generations to come." - Lisa Blunt Rochester

The Affordable Care Act has brought the number of uninsured down to historic lows, taking the burden off the backs of taxpayers and helped stabilize sky rocketing insurance rates. The law is not nearly perfect, but it is already a huge step forward.

Allowing Medicare and Medicaid to negotiate directly with drug manufacturers and cut out waste in our medical system.
Working to expand access to the program, curbing costs, and ensuring standards of quality.
Pushing to fund community health clinics and other local outreach efforts to help fill in the current gaps.

Source: 2016 Delaware House campaign website LisaBluntRochester.com Nov 8, 2016

Colin Bonini: Expand on the CARE Act and educate caregivers

Q: AARP believes Delaware's 123,000 unpaid family caregivers provide an important service. AARP supports a range of policies to help caregivers, including greater workplace flexibility, state caregiver tax credits, respite care, and expanding the ability of nurses to delegate certain tasks to direct care workers.

Colin Bonini: Continued education and support are key. I believe we should expand on the CARE Act (which I supported) by having ongoing education opportunities for caregivers and those who may be caregivers in the future. Many, if not all, of us will face the situation of aging family members and loved ones needing assistance. There is no question that helping prepare families for these eventualities is a critical component in not only saving taxpayer money, but also helping ensure our loved ones have the best quality of life they can have.

Source: AARP Voter Guide on 2016 Delaware gubernatorial race Oct 9, 2016

Jack Markell: Reduce costs by moving away from fee-for-service model

Employers, hospitals, physicians, and behavioral health specialists have spent thousands of hours on plans to move away from an expensive fee-for-service model & toward a system that emphasizes quality outcomes at an affordable cost. Today's system does virtually nothing to help people focus on costs, so we'll give employees the information and better incentives to choose cost-effective, high quality care--like using urgent care instead of the emergency room or telemedicine instead of an office visit. Source: 2016 State of the State speech to Delaware legislature Jan 21, 2016

Kevin Wade: Affordable Care Act violates the Constitution

Wade is running because he fears the same opportunities he had will no longer be available in the future. After working in a steel mill to pay for college and then starting his own engineering company, he has had a life like many others, Wade said. His hope is that he can secure similar chances for those to come. "The American dream is being thrown away by people who just don't understand the nature and character of the American people," he said.

Wade said the United States' handling of the influx of Central American children has been less than admirable, while the Affordable Care Act negatively has affected many and violates the Constitution. He also believes the people, not the government, should control the country's oil and gas resources.

Source: Delaware State News on 2014 Delaware Senate race Aug 12, 2014

Chris Coons: Malpractice lawsuits with no cap offer important redress

Q: Would you work to amend the reform bill to include malpractice reform?

COONS: I think it is critical that folks in this country be able to stand up to and take on powerful interests. And where individuals are harmed, that they're able to go into court and to seek redress. I don't support putting caps on liability because it is only the threat of a significant recovery that allows protection for consumers, for patients, for investors. I think that's an important part of the American legal system.

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Chris Coons: Extend, perfect, and implement ObamaCare

Q: Under the new health care law, children now can stay on their parents' insurance policies until the age of 26. People can no longer be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions. Insurers are prohibited from rescinding coverage if a customer becomes sick and they can't impose any lifetime limits on essential benefits like hospital stays or expensive treatments. You say you want to repeal all of that?

O'DONNELL: Those are very important things that are part of insurance reform, not health care reform. I want to fight to fully repeal that so that we can begin to enact real reform.

COONS: I support the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. I think it made significant advances, and you outlined many of them. I argue for extending, perfecting, and implementing this landmark bill. It's not perfect. There are problems with it. But I think rather than turning it back and repealing and going for another year or two of endless partisan bickering, this was a critical piece of legislation

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Chris Coons: Groups representing nurses & seniors support ObamaCare

O'DONNELL: ObamaCare gives massive control over health care to Uncle Sam, who has no business in the examination room between you and your doctor.

COONS: That's a great slogan. You toss it around everywhere you go. How does this bill actually put Uncle Sam in the examination room between doctors and patients?

O'DONNELL: It dictates what kind of treatment a doctor can and can't do, what kind it will fund.

COONS: So why did the organization that fights for and represents America's nurses, America's seniors, America's hospitals, and America's doctors, all endorse and support this bill?

O'DONNELL: Many of those branches on the state level, including here in Delaware, have said we don't support what the national office has done.

COONS: Christiana Care hosted a debate earlier today. I was sorry you chose not to join us. It would have been great to hear the response of the physicians and the nurses and the hospital administrators to your suggesting that they didn't support a bill they lobbied for.

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Christine O`Donnell: ObamaCare is insurance reform, not health care reform

O'DONNELL: No one is disputing that our health care system before ObamaCare didn't need reform. Those are very important things that are part of insurance reform, not health care reform. I want to fight to fully repeal that so that we can begin to enact real reform. And that real reform would include allowing policy portability when you change jobs allowing Delawareans to get policies across state lines. And I would also fight for some sort of tort reform.

COONS: I argue for extending & perfecting it rather than repealing. This was a critical piece of legislation.

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Christine O`Donnell: 1/4 of Democrats now oppose ObamaCare, as costs skyrocket

Q: Let's talk about the healthcare reform bill.

COONS: There are significant advances in this bill that allow us to make health care safer, stronger, more transparent. And if I've got a major concern about this bill, it's that we're going to reduce costs without squelching innovation.

O'DONNELL: You say that you're concerned about reducing costs, but reports have showed that this health care bill has caused costs to skyrocket.

COONS: I don't know what reports you're reading. I haven't seen reports that document that.

O'DONNELL: One out of four Democrats have gone on record saying that they oppose ObamaCare; they've realized that we made a bad mistake.

COONS: And three out of four Democrats strongly support it.

Q: You oppose the government mandating that everyone must purchase health insurance, is that right?

O'DONNELL: Yes, because we're confusing coverage with care. Our goal needs to be to make health care affordable.

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Christine O`Donnell: ObamaCare puts Uncle Sam in the examination room

O'DONNELL: What ObamaCare does is it gives massive control over health care to Uncle Sam, who has no business coming in the examination room, coming between you and your doctor. And that's exactly what this bill does.

COONS: That's a great slogan. You toss it around everywhere you go. How does this bill actually put Uncle Sam in the examination room between doctors and patients?

O'DONNELL: It dictates what kind of treatment a doctor can and can't do, what kind it will fund.

COONS: So why did the organization that fights for and represents America's nurses, America's seniors, America's hospitals, and America's doctors, all endorse and support this bill?

O'DONNELL: Many of those branches on the state level, including here in Delaware, have said we don't support what the national office has done.

COONS: Christiana Care hosted a debate earlier today. I was sorry you chose not to join us. You're suggesting that they didn't support a bill they lobbied for.

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Christine O`Donnell: Avoid ER expenses by cross-state catastrophic insurance

Q: Let's say someone decides not to purchase health insurance, even though this person can afford it, but decided he doesn't want to. This person gets critically ill, is rushed to an emergency room. Should we, people who pay for health insurance, provide treatment?

O'DONNELL: If we do the things that I'm proposing, that will help to address the issue of health care, then that person can afford to buy a catastrophic-only policy from across state lines.

Q: What if the person doesn't want to buy it?

O'DONNELL: Make them pay it. Hold them accountable for that.

Q: Before or after they get care?

O'DONNELL: Well, that's up to the hospital. But right now we're forcing them to. So this is something that we're already doing. You're talking about a very small hypothetical; using scare tactics to make people support this health care bill. What I'm proposing will help alleviate those situations. Nobody should be forced to pay for anyone else's health care, and that's what ObamaCare is doing.

Source: CNN's Wolf Blitzer moderating 2010 Delaware Senate debate Oct 13, 2010

Chris Coons: Responsibly implement healthcare law while containing costs

Perhaps the greatest gulf between Coons and O'Donnell came on the question of whether they supported the recently passed healthcare law. Coons said he would work to implement the law "responsibly," noting that "while we implement healthcare, we have to contain costs without squelching innovation."

But O'Donnell called for the "full repeal" of the healthcare law, saying that "the federal government was never intended to be as invasive and intrusive into our lives as it is now."

Source: The Hill coverage of 2010 Delaware Senate debate Sep 16, 2010

Christine O`Donnell: Full repeal of invasive & intrusive healthcare law

Coons said he would work to implement the law "responsibly," noting that "while we implement healthcare, we have to contain costs without squelching innovation."

But O'Donnell called for the "full repeal" of the healthcare law, saying that "the federal government was never intended to be as invasive and intrusive into our lives as it is now."

The response elicited loud cheers from O'Donnell's supporters while garnering sustained boos from Coons backers.

Source: The Hill coverage of 2010 Delaware Senate debate Sep 16, 2010

Tom Carper: Universal coverage for children is within our grasp

We’re waging a war against infant mortality, too -- and we’re winning. On January 1, we took another giant step forward: kids without coverage from families earning between 100 and 200 percent of poverty became eligible to participate in a good, comprehensive plan of health care known as the Delaware Healthy Children Program -- for as little as $10 to $25 per month, per family.Universal health care coverage for children in Delaware -- a goal that many of us share -- is finally within our grasp. Source: 1999 Delaware State of the State Speech Jan 21, 1999

Colin Bonini: Supports healthcare tax incentives & tort reform

Bonini indicated support of the following principles regarding health issues:

Provide tax incentives to small businesses that provide health care to their employees.
Limit the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Source: 1998 Delaware Legislative National Political Awareness Test Nov 1, 1998

The above quotations are from State of Delaware Politicians: Archives. Click here for definitions & background information on Health Care. Click here for other issues (main summary page).
*2020 Presidential contenders on Health Care:*
	*Democrats running for President:* Sen.Michael Bennet (D-CO) V.P.Joe Biden (D-DE) Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I-NYC) Gov.Steve Bullock (D-MT) Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN) Sen.Cory Booker (D-NJ) Secy.Julian Castro (D-TX) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Rep.John Delaney (D-MD) Rep.Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) Sen.Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Gov.Deval Patrick (D-MA) Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) CEO Tom Steyer (D-CA) Sen.Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Marianne Williamson (D-CA) CEO Andrew Yang (D-NY) *2020 Third Party Candidates:* Rep.Justin Amash (L-MI) CEO Don Blankenship (C-WV) Gov.Lincoln Chafee (L-RI) Howie Hawkins (G-NY) ~~Gov.Gary Johnson~~(L-NM) ~~Howard Schultz~~(I-WA) Gov.Jesse Ventura (I-MN)	*Republicans running for President:* ~~Sen.Ted Cruz~~(R-TX) ~~Gov.Larry Hogan~~ (R-MD) ~~Gov.John Kasich~~(R-OH) V.P.Mike Pence(R-IN) ~~Gov.Mark Sanford~~ (R-SC) Pres.Donald Trump(R-NY) Rep.Joe Walsh (R-IL) Gov.Bill Weld(R-MA & L-NY) *2020 Withdrawn Democratic Candidates:* Sen.Stacey Abrams (D-GA) Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-NYC) Sen.Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) Sen.Mike Gravel (D-AK) Sen.Kamala Harris (D-CA) Gov.John Hickenlooper (D-CO) Gov.Jay Inslee (D-WA) Mayor Wayne Messam (D-FL) Rep.Seth Moulton (D-MA) Rep.Beto O`Rourke (D-TX) Rep.Tim Ryan (D-CA) Adm.Joe Sestak (D-PA) Rep.Eric Swalwell (D-CA)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org! Click for details -- or send donations to: 1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140 E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org (We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Jan 28, 2021