President Joe Biden gave his State of the Union speech on March 1, 2022. As always, I tuned. […]

This is the the third in my installments on the Presidential Party Platforms. I’m reviewing and comparing the Democrat and Republican Party Platforms.  

I think it’s worth repeating that the Republicans decided to adopt the 2016 Party Platform. On the opening day of the 2020 convention, Republicans announced that they do not have a platform, but will follow Presidents Trump’s direction. Okay, now what? Lacking specifics, I’ll follow my original plan and compare the 2016 Republican Platform with the 2020 Democratic Platform.

The Democratic Party has about 8 pages on health care. The Republican Party has about three pages addressing healthcare.

Just so I can keep everything straight, I put the information into a simple table, like I would for corporate goals. Pretty easy to understand; I think:  We will______________ by_____________ so that______________ happens.  The last column is the page number for your reference.

Note: The day I began researching for this post, President Trump’s campaign announced a 2nd Term Agenda. The goals are many, but only the first part (We will) is addressed. How the goal will be accomplished (the “by”) is missing. Why he wants to accomplish the goal (the “so that”) is also not included. You can find the Agenda by clicking here.

So here’s the Democrats’ Plan for achieving universal, affordable, quality healthcare:

woman with an american flag
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com
We willBySo thatPage
Protect, strengthen, and build upon our bedrock health care programs (Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Medicaid,Veterans Affairs (VA) system)Give all Americans the choice to select a high-quality,
affordable public option through the Affordable Care Act marketplace.
 Private insurers have competition and incentive to provide affordable, quality coverage to every American.25
Help close the persistent racial gap in insurance ratesExpand funding for Affordable Care Act outreach and enrollment programsEvery American knows their options for securing quality, affordable coverage.26
Provide health care to lowest-income Americans Automatically enroll Medicaid eligible adults without premiums, with the option to opt out at any timeEveryone has the health care system the American people have always deserved26
Remove barriers to states that seek to experiment with statewide universal health care approaches. Empowering the states, as laboratories of democracy, to use Affordable Care
Act innovation waivers 
Everyone has the health care system the American people have always deserved26
Increase support for dental care, mental health care, and substance use services like medication-assisted treatment, and substance use servicesDoubling investments in community health centers and rural health clinicsRural health clinics keep their doors open26 
Bring down the cost of prescription drugsEmpowering Medicare to at last be able to negotiate prescription drug prices for all public and private purchasers

Preventing the price of brand-name and outlier generic drugs from rising faster than the inflation rate

Americans do not pay more for prescription drugs than people in other advanced economies26
Ensure that effective treatments for chronic health conditions are available at little or no cost. Capping out-of-pocket drug costs for seniorsAmericans do not pay more for prescription drugs than people in other advanced economies27 
Take on Pharmaceutical CompaniesCracking down on anti-competitive efforts to manipulate the patent system or collude on prices.
Eliminating tax breaks for prescription drug advertisements.
Americans do not pay more for prescription drugs than people in other advanced economies27
Make it easier for working families to afford high-quality insurance Ensuring no one pays more than 8.5% of their income in premiums and eliminating the cap on subsidies.Reduce Healthcare costs27 
Increase price transparency in the health care system Outlawing the practice of surprise medical billing

using antitrust laws to fight against mega-mergers in the hospital, insurance, and pharmaceutical industries
Reduce Healthcare costs  27
Expand and protect MedicareFighting efforts to cut Medicare benefits

Finding financially sustainable policies to
expand Medicare to cover dental, vision, and hearing.
Prevent severe health consequences for Medicare patient27
Increase the number of primary care practitioners, registered nurses, dentists, and dental therapists, especially in rural and low-income metropolitan areasSupporting policiesIt’s easier to access preventive and primary health care27
Expand access to mental health and substance use treatmentEnforcing the federal
mental health and substance use disorder parity law

Ensuring that health insurers cover mental health and substance use treatment
American who needs it should be able to access mental health care or substance use disorder treatment, no matter where they live27
 
Expanding funding for health clinics, especially in rural areas, and increasing access to these services through Medicaid.Investing in training and hiring more mental health providers, substance use disorder counselors, and peer support counselorsAmerican who needs it should be able to access mental health care or substance use disorder treatment, no matter where they live27
Fight the opioid epidemicMaking medication-assisted treatment available to all who need it, and requiring publicly supported health clinics to offer medication-assisted treatment for opioid addiction and approved treatments for other substance use disordersAmerican who needs it should be able to access mental health care or substance use disorder treatment, no matter where they live 28
Eliminate waiting lists for home and community-based care and the institutional bias within MedicaidMaking investments in building the capacity of the Medicaid system to provide home and community-based services. Long-term care services and support are expanded 28
Help Americans pay for long-term careCreating a tax credit for informal and family caregivers and increasing the Child and Dependent Care Tax CreditLong-term care services and support are expanded 28
Improve nursing home staffing and quality standards, strengthen accreditation processes,
Combat corporate abuses in
nursing homes
Enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act and fulfilling the promise of the Olmstead v. L.C. decision Institutional segregation of people with disabilities is eliminated28 
Eliminate gaps in insurance rates, access to quality care, and health outcomesLaunching a sustained, government-wide effort tackling the social, economic, and environmental inequities

Ensuring federal data collection and analysis is adequately funded
We eliminate racial, gender, and geographic health inequities 29
Afford access to health care for people living and working across the United StatesExpanding the ACA to Dreamers

Lift the five-year waiting period for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program eligibility for low-income, lawfully present immigrants.
We eliminate racial, gender, and geographic health inequities 29
End the HIV/AIDS epidemicSupporting investments
under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund
We eliminate racial, gender, and geographic health inequities 29
 Pursue environmental justice and climate justice, including for Indigenous
peoples and communities
Investing in clean water and
 wastewater infrastructure, clean energy generation and distribution, and sustainable and regenerative agriculture
We protect Native American health29
Honor the United States’ trust obligation to Native American communitiesMaking mandatory and working toward full funding for the Indian Health Service We protect Native American health29
Provide vital preventive and reproductive health care for millions of womenRestoring federal funding for Planned Parenthood

Fighting to overturn federal and state laws that create barriers to women’s reproductive health and right

Repealing the Hyde Amendment

protecting and codifying Roe v. Wade.
We secure reproductive health, rights, and justice29
Save mothers’ livesExpanding postpartum
Medicaid coverage to a full year after giving birth, investing in rural maternal health, promoting a diverse perinatal workforce, and implementing implicit bias training for health professionals.
We protect and promote maternal health30
Address every dimension of the Black maternal health
crisis
supporting policies and approaches that will at least halve our nation’s unacceptably high maternal
mortality rate.
We protect and promote maternal health30
Restore nondiscrimination protections for
LGBTQ+ people in health insurance
Reversing regulations that allow doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies to discriminate against patients based on their sexual orientation or gender identity

Requiring that federal health plans provide coverage for HIV/AIDS treatment and HIV prevention medications like PrEP and PEP, gender confirmation surgery, and hormone therapy
We protect LGBTQ+ health30
Ensure healthcare workers have a family-sustained wage, good benefits, access to training and professional development, and the ability to join a union and collectively bargain.Requiring all employers funded by taxpayer dollars to pay their workers at least $15/hour and protect workers’ rights to organizeWe strengthen and support the health care workforce31
Invest in Health Science and ResearchIncreasing funding for health and medical research and federal grants across agencies

Increasing the federal investment in
research and development for new medications
We are at the forefront of scientific research and discover for the benefit of our people, our economy, and our global competitiveness31
Break down silos and accelerate research into
cancer and cancer treatments
Creating an agency with the sole mission of finding new cures and treatments for cancer and other diseases.We are at the forefront of scientific research and discover for the benefit of our people, our economy, and our global competitiveness31
Protect the independence and intellectual freedom of scientists

Shield our scientific
research agencies from future political interference.
???We restore the pace of scientific inquiry and America’s standing in the world.31

Whew! That was a lot of work.  Next up….