Joe Biden
U.S. Senator (D-Del.)
Did you know? Biden had surgery for two life-threatening brain aneurysms in 1988.
Healthcare Reform:
"All Americans should have access to health care." Rx: Use public programs to cover all children through age 21. Permit others to buy into Medicare or into a system similar to the one that covers federal employees. Use federal funds to help cover medical bills exceeding $50,000 for catastrophic conditions. Require public and private insurers to cover preventive care. See PoliGraph for this issue >
The Uninsured:
Cover all children first through public programs
Biden would expand income ranges for public coverage eligibility for children, allow people to stay on public care until they are 21 instead of 18, and allow adults to buy into a plan similar to the Federal Employee Health Benefit Plan and into Medicare at younger ages. See PoliGraph for this issue >
Drug Prices:
Lower drug prices through government negotiation
Biden’s health care proposal mentions only one issue regarding prescription drugs: allowing the federal government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices on behalf of Medicare. See PoliGraph for this issue >
Prevention:
Require coverage of preventive services
Biden would require insurers participating in federal programs to cover preventive care, particularly for chronic disease and obesity. He would entice people to seek preventive care and screening by waiving co-payments under Medicare, particularly for cervical, breast and colon cancer, and high-cost chronic diseases. See PoliGraph for this issue >
Technology:
Health information technology could improve health care delivery
Biden proposes investments of at least $1 billion annually to move the country to an electronic network. He’d also provide grants to states to build networks. In Biden’s state of Delaware, federal and state money has helped build a statewide health information network for public and private use. See PoliGraph for this issue >
Stem Cells:
Allow federal funding for stem cell research
Biden hasn’t said much about stem cell research in his campaign, but his voting record supports it. He voted in favor of the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Acts of 2005 and 2007, which would have provided federal funding for research. President Bush vetoed them both. See PoliGraph for this issue >
