QUESTION: ACCESS TO CARE
What steps will you take to ensure that all Americans have access to the full continuum of quality cancer care, including prevention and early detection through treatment and follow-up care?
What steps will you take to ensure that all Americans have access to the full continuum of quality cancer care, including prevention and early detection through treatment and follow-up care?
ANSWER: ACS CAN
Adequate: Patients must have timely access to the full range of evidence based health care services, including prevention and primary care. Coverage should be comprehensive, not run out, and fully cover catastrophic expenditures.
Available: Coverage must be renewable, portable, and continuous. It must not be based on, or constrained by, a person’s health status or pre-existing conditions.
Affordable: Insurance must be affordable to everyone. People with pre-existing conditions or poor health must not be subject to premiums above their ability to pay. Annual total out-of-pocket costs (includes co-pays and eductibles) must be reasonable.
Administratively simple: Covered benefits, financial liability, and terms for making claims must be clear. Consumers must be able to compare and contrast different health insurance plans and easily navigate health insurance transactions and transitions.
ANSWER: John McCain Republican
Responses provided by candidate
Responses provided by candidate
John McCain's health care reforms would give consumers a level of health insurance coverage portability never before seen, allowing individuals to maintain continuous coverage through their life. His plan will empower individuals by giving them tax credits to purchase insurance directly while opening the insurance market to competition thereby giving consumers the power to choose health plans that meet their needs and allow Americans to stay with the doctors and providers of their choice. Americans would not have to change from one doctor or one network to the next every time they change employers. They'll have a medical "home" again, dealing with doctors who know and care about them. His plan would guarantee that there are affordable coverage options for everyone including those with preexisting conditions. Individuals with preexisting conditions who are currently unable to get access to affordable health care could join their State's Guaranteed Access Plan (GAP), developed by governors in conjunction with the federal government. Assistance would be available for individuals who need help purchasing their GAP coverage. John McCain would work with insurers and consumers to ensure that prevention and maintenance care are included as part of health plans that also encourage and reward healthy behavior.
ANSWER: Barack Obama Democrat
Responses provided by candidate
Responses provided by candidate
I believe that every American has the right to affordable, comprehensive and portable health coverage. My plan will guarantee coverage for every American, regardless of pre-existing conditions, through partnerships among employers, private health plans, the federal government, and the states. My plan will save a typical American family up to $2,500 every year on medical expenditures by providing health coverage for every American; modernizing the U.S. health care system to contain spiraling health care costs and improve the quality of patient care; and promoting prevention and strengthening public health to prevent disease and protect against natural and man-made disasters. I will also ensure that evidence-based treatments are widely adopted by rewarding providers for achieving performance thresholds on outcome measures. I will require hospitals and providers to collect and publicly report measures of health care costs and quality, including data on preventable medical errors, nurse staffing ratios, hospital-acquired infections, and disparities in care, so individuals are fully equipped to easily compare health plans.
