It’s war (and healthcare costs) between Bush and Kerry
pharmafile | September 30, 2004 | News story | |Â Â Â
The future of America's healthcare system and the high price of prescription medicines remain two of the key issues for the country's voters as the presidential election enters its final stages.
The latest opinion polls put President Bush six points ahead of Senator John Kerry, with just weeks to go before election day on 2 November, but so-called 'swing States' could still provide an upset.
Campaigning on both sides has focused on the economy, the war in Iraq and terrorism and these issues have emerged as the top three concerns in an analysis of 22 polls published in TheNew England Journal of Medicine.
Not far behind in fourth, is health. The Bush administration's newly expanded Medicare insurance system was only launched in August yet the public remains deeply concerned that the number of people without insurance is continuing to rise, and now stands at one in six.
Meanwhile, for those with Medicare coverage, experts warn that bills will rise sharply over the next few years, despite the reforms.
In April, a poll conduced by Harris Interactive for The Wall Street Journal asked over 2,000 adults what they thought were the most urgent healthcare issues – 39% said reducing the cost of prescription drugs, while the same percentage identified putting more people on insurance.
The pharma industry is not merely a keen observer of the campaigning but is a key fundraising lobby group, hoping to guarantee favourable policies in its single most important market in the world. The industry has thrown its weight behind the new Medicare insurance system which, for the first time ever, covers some prescription costs.
While there is a consensus across the US that costs need to be controlled and more people need to be insured, there is no agreement on how the system should be reformed, and how it can be paid for in the long-term.
"We can all agree that life-saving medicines should not cost people their life's savings," Raymond Gilmartin, Merck's chief executive commented in May.
"It's easy to say: 'Just let people buy cheaper drugs from Canada' or 'Stop inflating the prices of your drugs with expensive TV ads'.And while those may make for great soundbites, they don't make for good public policy."
Gilmartin concluded that the debate came down to the question of how great a role government plays in controlling healthcare and healthcare costs, and said the addition of prescription drug coverage to Medicare was a good example of this.
These views closely match the rhetoric of President Bush, who while promoting the newly reformed Medicare, is campaigning for re-election on further changes.
"When it comes to healthcare, we have a difference of opinion and it's a big difference of opinion in this campaign. My opponent wants government to dictate. I want you to decide when it comes to healthcare," he said.
Bush plans to expand use of personal 'health savings accounts' and association health plans which allow smaller companies to group together to negotiate better prices, as well as make savings through tackling medical malpractice lawsuits.
Senator Kerry has proposed increasing taxes on America's richest to pay for increased Medicare coverage, but analysts say he cannot do this and meet another election pledge of reducing the budget deficit.
April's Harris Interactive survey found voters trusted Kerry more on health, with 61% saying they believed Bush opposed importing cheaper medicines from Canada to protect the industry's profits.
Exploiting this suspicion, Kerry attacked Bush's record on health, saying: "[He] has done nothing to provide relief. He has chosen to give tax breaks to outsourcers and delivered a billion dollar giveaway to drug companies, but stood on the sidelines as small businesses have wrestled with increased health costs."
Independent public spending institute the Concord Coalition has warned that both plans focus on capping costs and do not address the need for structural change to the system.
Concord Coalition's executive director Robert Bixby warned that "trying to have it all" by offering tax cuts and increased Medicare will only worsen the country's budget deficit which could reach as much as $521 billion in 2004.
"Regardless of who wins the presidency or which party controls Congress after the elections, they are going to have to deal with the deficit," said Bixby.
