Election 2008
The Nov. 4 election of Barack Obama will almost certainly lead to an extraordinary re-alignment of political power in Washington, including an opportunity for significant health care reform. In an interview just prior to the election, Sen. Obama named health care reform as his third priority (stabilizing the economy and energy independence were the top two). He said, “I think the time is right to do it.”
In January, we released a candidate’s pledge that described how ACP felt the candidates should shape their health care proposals, based on the College’s key health reform priorities.
ACP’s election tool has been updated to show how President Obama’s positions compare to ACP policies and priorities. Links are given to additional resources to learn more about the Obama plan.
A Comparison of Obama’s Health Care Platform
Choose from one of the five Pledges below to help you analyze President Barack Obama’s health platforms.
- Guarantee by law that everyone has access to affordable health coverage
. Coverage should be without regard to their place of employment, place of residence within the United States or income. - Provide every person with access to a primary care physician. Create workforce and payment policies to increase the numbers of primary care physicians, recognize the value of primary care, and support care organized through a patient-centered medical home.
- Increase public investment in health information technologies (HIT). Provide positive incentives to physicians to overcome the HIT cost barrier.
- Reduce administrative expenses. Create a uniform billing system for all health insurance transactions at the point of care. Reform the medical liability system using proven legal reforms.
- Increase funding for research. Fund basic and applied medical research, health services research and independent research on the effectiveness, costs and benefits of different treatments compared to each other.
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