Break Down of the Issues - Part 6

Domestic Policy

Back on track. After a one week battle with our bathroom, we finally have a new floor in. My advice to anyone planning to do any work on ceramic tile, buy a wet saw. The other tools out there are important (tile scorer, tile nipper, etc.) but after fighting with these tools for three days to almost no avail, the wet saw let me cut everything and get it in mortar in about six to eight hours. And now on to the second most commonly discussed subject in this campaign - health care.

Domestic policy will be broken up into numerous sections as the candidates go in depth on plans for numerous topics. See also Part 1, Part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 7. Again, all of these policy statements are taken from the candidates' campaign websites.

Hillary Clinton	John Edwards	Barack Obama
Health Care
Link	Link (PDF)	Link
Insurance
Give people the choice of current insurance plans or allow them to select from the congressional health plans Strengthen Medicaid and CHIP Require large employers to provide insurance at least partially, give small business tax cuts to provide insurance Give individuals a tax credit for coverage designed to keep premiums to a fixed percent of income Remove hidden taxes to reduce premium cost for current civilian plans Include mental, physical, and, in some plans, dental coverage End unfair health insurance discrimination	Create regional health care markets allowing individuals and businesses in a region to pool their money to get lower premiums Expand Medicaid and SCHIP to cover families with children making 50k or less Require businesses to cover employees, at least partially Refundable tax credits to reduce insurance costs Cover mental health care as well as physical Reform insurance laws to ensure everyone is eligible Lower premium incentives for healthy lifestyle	Create a public benefit program similar to the Congressional one Expand Medicaid and SCHIP Employers will be required to provide at least partial coverage, or contribute to a national plan Individuals who aren't eligible for Medicaid/SCHIP can receive federal subsidies if needed Create the National Health Insurance Exchange - watchdog group that will monitor participating insurance companies and provide individuals with a way to compare them Dependant coverage through a parent's plan expanded up to the age of 25 Cover preventative, mental, and pregnancy health care Guaranteed eligibility, no matter pre-existing conditions Simplify public plan enrollment Regular audits of participating insurance companies Set minimum standards for state health initiatives, but will not overrule plans that meet/exceed this standard Reimburse insurance plans for catastrophic event coverage, if reimbursement is used to keep premiums down
Providers
No new provider initiatives provided on her site	Pay doctors based on results Easily available health care provider quality reports Push the use of electronic medical records Restrict direct to consumer drug advertising for new drugs Strengthen FDA monitoring policy	Reward providers who give better quality results Require health care providers to publish care reports Independent institute to review providers Invest 10 billion to move paper records to electronic records over 5 years Bring antitrust laws to bear against malpractice insurance providers that overcharge physicians Allow consumers to buy drugs from other developed countries
Mandates*
Require individuals to obtain insurance	Require all Americans to get insurance (special case exemptions)	All children must be covered

*A mandate is a requirement for each individual to purchase insurance. Candidates have not yet specified on their sites what penalties will be faced by those who do not.