Health Care

Joe Biden (D)

• Doesn't support Medicare for All
• Supports creating a public option to expand health care coverage
• Supports keeping private insurance
• Supports building on the Affordable Care Act's foundation
• Limit copayments to $1,000
• Expand coverage to low-income Americans in 14 states that have blocked the Affordable Care Act
• Supports giving the federal government the ability to negotiate drug prices for Medicare
• Incentivize drug companies to charge prices that are comparable to those paid in other developed countries
• Limit launch prices for drugs that face no competition
• Any drug that's price is increased above the inflation rate would not qualify to be covered by Medicare or Medicaid
• Allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from other countries
• Eliminate a tax break drug companies receive for advertising their medicines to consumers
• Give a $5,000 tax credit to family caregivers
• Adequately fund our rural hospitals and community health centers
• Allow undocumented immigrants to be covered under a government-run health plan
• Expand federal funding for mental health and substance use disorder services and research
• No one should be required to pay more than 8.5% of income toward health insurance premiums
• Unrestrict federal help to pay for insurance premiums

Michael Bloomberg (D)

• Doesn't support Medicare for All
• Create a Medicare-like public option
• Include an optional policy covering dental, hearing, and vision care
• Cap premiums at 8.5% of a household’s income
• Plan to lower drug prices:
• Cap Medicare beneficiaries' out-of-pocket spending on drug costs at $2,000 per year
• Cap drug prices at 120% of the average in other advanced nations
• Authorize the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies
• Ban drug companies from making payments to the people who make decisions at pharmacies
• Plan to combat the opioid epidemic:
• Provide medication and counseling to treat opioid use disorder when people enter hospitals or the criminal justice system
• Treat people who suffer from addiction problems instead of incarcerating them, unless they have committed violent crimes
• Enforce federal laws mandating insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorders
• Develop national standards for states to gather data on opioid use and overdoses to understand which areas need help most

Pete Buttigieg (D)

• Supports Medicare for All as an end goal
• Supports “Medicare for All Who Want It” as a pathway to Medicare for All
• Ensure universal health care through the creation of a public option
• Supports building on the Affordable Care Act's foundation
• Supports keeping private insurance, for now
• Invest resources in mental health services
• Create a universal, gender-neutral, national paid family and medical leave program allowing for up to 12 weeks of paid leave
• Plan to lower prescription drug prices:
• Cap out-of pocket spending on drugs for those on government healthcare plan at $250 per month
• Make co-payments for generic drugs $0 for people with low incomes
• Allow the government to negotiate drug prices with pharmaceutical companies
• Tax pharmaceutical companies that refuse to negotiate 65% on the sales of that drug, increasing 10% each quarter until 95%
• Penalize pharmaceutical companies that raise prices by more than inflation
• Make it easier for generics to enter the market by ending tactics that prevent competition
• Doesn't support having the federal government produce and sell generic drugs at lower prices
• Supports importing drugs from other countries, given they are screened by the FDA for quality and safety
• Allow undocumented immigrants to be covered under a government-run health plan through the public option
• Create and fund Health Equity Zones to address high-priority health disparities in the local community, with a specific emphasis on racial and demographic health disparities
• Address the underrepresentation of Black Americans in the health workforce and train our current health workforce to combat bias–especially racial bias–when treating patients
• Incentivize medical students and workers to work in rural communities
• Ensure coverage for and access to the full range of reproductive healthcare services in rural areas
• Improve access to affordable and high-quality mental health and addiction treatment with $100 billion investment over 10 years
• Hold the drug manufacturers and pharmacies that exacerbated the opioid crisis for profit accountable
• Combat the opioid and methamphetamine epidemics

Tulsi Gabbard (D)

• Supports Medicare for All as an end goal
• Ensure universal health care through the creation of a public option
• Supports the Affordable Care Act
• Create a universal, gender-neutral, national paid family and medical leave program allowing for up to 12 weeks of paid leave
• Supports giving the federal government the ability to negotiate drug prices for Medicare
• Incentivize drug companies to charge prices that are comparable to those paid in other developed countries
• Allow the government to break the patents of brand drug companies so that generic companies can produce cheaper knockoffs
• Supports keeping private insurance
• Supports importing drugs from other countries

Amy Klobuchar (D)

• Doesn't support Medicare for All
• Instead offer a public option that people can buy into
• Supports building on the Affordable Care Act's foundation
• Supports keeping private insurance
• Expand Medicare to include Americans age 55 and older
• Address the shortage of maternity care health professionals
• Increase health care access in rural communities
• Create a universal, gender-neutral, national paid family and medical leave program allowing for up to 12 weeks of paid leave
• Supports giving the federal government the ability to negotiate drug prices for Medicare
• Immediately allow for the importation of drugs from other countries
• End “pay for delay” agreements, where drug companies pay the makers of generic drugs to delay the entrance of cheaper versions of drugs into the market
• Incentivize drug companies to charge prices that are comparable to those paid in other developed countries
• Allow the government to break the patents of brand drug companies so that generic companies can produce cheaper knockoffs
• Invest in Alzheimer's research
• Released a plan to spend $100 billion over a decade to improve mental health care and fight substance abuse
• Supports imposing a one-cent tax for each milligram of opioids in a pain pill and the tax revenue would be used for substance abuse treatment

Bernie Sanders (D)

Tom Steyer (D)

• Supports “Medicare for All Who Want It” as a pathway to Medicare for All
• Ensure universal health care through the creation of a public option
• Supports keeping private insurance
• Require drug manufacturers to provide notification of price increases
• Criticized pharmaceutical companies for profiting off of drug sales and causing the deadly opioid crisis

Donald Trump (R)

• Supports repealing the Affordable Care Act and replacing it with a free-market system
• Opposes Medicare for All
• Unveiled American Patients First plan to lower drug prices through increasing competition and better negotiation
• Outlined significant cuts to Medicare in his 2020 budget

Joe Walsh (R)

• Opposes the Affordable Care Act and any other form of government-sponsored healthcare

Elizabeth Warren (D)

• Supports creating Medicare for All immediately
• Eliminate private insurance and employer health care plans
• Let Americans see any doctor they want to with no deductibles or copays
• Fully cover every service and procedure, including dental, vision, long-term care, and abortion, at practically no cost to patients
• Plan to pay for Medicare For All:
• After current government spending on health care is put towards her plan, an additional $20.5 trillion is needed over ten years
• No middle class tax increases
• Tax companies the amount that they currently spend on employer health care plans, raising $9 trillion
• Add $2.9 trillion in corporate taxes
• Raise proposed wealth tax on wealth over $1 billion from 3% to 6%
• Increase IRS enforcement to decrease tax avoidance
• Decrease military spending by $800 billion over ten years
• Impose a financial transactions tax of 0.1% of the value of every stock
• Pass comprehensive immigration reform that would lead to $400 billion in new taxable income over 10 years
• Provide every family with affordable and high-quality child care and make it free for those below 200% of the poverty line
• Create a universal, gender-neutral, national paid family and medical leave program allowing for up to 12 weeks of paid leave
• Invest $100 billion over the next ten years to increase access to high quality treatment and support services for those affected by the opioid crisis
• Plan to lower prescription drug prices:
• Create a government-run pharmaceutical manufacturer to mass-produce generic drugs where a failure in the market is determined, such as if the price is deemed too high
• Supports giving the federal government the ability to negotiate drug prices for Medicare
• Supports importing drugs from other countries
• Incentivize drug companies to charge prices that are comparable to those paid in other developed countries
• Limit insurer profits while expanding health care subsidies and tax credits
• Increase funding for community health centers by 15% per year for the next five years
• Establish a $25 billion dollar fund to improve access to care in health professional shortage areas
• Scale up apprenticeship programs to build up a health care workforce in rural areas and eliminate loan debt for those with 5 years of service
• Allow undocumented immigrants to be covered under a government-run health plan
• Grant $800 million over ten years to tribal governments, organizations and Urban Indian Health Programs to combat mental health issues among Native Americans
• Extend union protections to home care workers

Bill Weld (R)

• Reform the Affordable Care Act so people have more choices
• Supports increased competition to lower prices