Wednesday, June 06, 2007 Election
2008
Republican Presidential Candidates Discuss Health
Care During Debate
Republican presidential candidates
during the third debate of the campaign on Tuesday discussed health care,
immigration, gun control and religion, among other issues, the Washington Post reports. Ten candidates
participated in the debate, including the "three GOP front-runners" --
former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and
former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- who "each had moments in which
they shined," the Post reports. Actor and former Sen. Fred
Thompson (Tenn.), who is considering a presidential bid, did not
participate in the debate (Balz/Shear, Washington Post, 6/6).
Romney "had the most at stake" when discussing health care during
the debate because "he signed one of the nation's few measures aimed at
extending insurance coverage to everyone," USA Today reports. According to
USA Today, Romney "had recently distanced himself from the
legislation," but on Tuesday he "proudly" said, "I'm the guy who actually
tackled this issue" (Wolf/Lawrence, USA Today, 6/6). Romney
added, "We're going to have insurance for all of our citizens they can
afford, that's theirs, that's portable. They never have to worry about
losing it. That's the answer" (CNN debate transcript, 6/5).
Giuliani during the
debate criticized some Democratic health care proposals as "socialized
medicine." He said that families should receive a $15,000 tax deduction to
buy their own health insurance, similar to car or homeowner's insurance
(USA Today, 6/6). Giuliani added that individuals should have
access to a health savings account, in order to "put some money aside to
pay for your ordinary medical expenses" (CNN debate transcript,
6/5).
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson during the debate said,
"We spend $2 trillion on health care. That's 16% of the gross national
product. Ninety-three percent of the cost of health care goes into waiting
until after you become sick," adding, "Only 7% of the money is used to
keep you well in the first place" (Parsons/McCormick, Chicago Tribune, 6/6). Thompson said that "we
have 125 million Americans that have one or more chronic illnesses. In
order to change this, we have to educate the American people about
tobacco, about diabetes, about cardiovascular and about obesity." Thompson
added that lawmakers should focus on preventive health and the
implementation of electronic health records (CNN debate transcript, 6/5).