In less than three short months, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton will take the White House. Our nation's next president will play an integral part in healthcare's next steps, with Ms. Clinton pledging to continue building on President Obama's Affordable Care Act.
Here are eight healthcare quotes from Hillary Clinton:
1. After a woman spoke about her daughter receiving cancer treatment due to the ACA during a speaking engagement at Grand View University, as reported by CBS News, Ms. Clinton said, "I want you to understand why I am fighting so hard for the Affordable Care Act…I don't want it repealed, I don't want us to be thrown back into a terrible, terrible national debate. I don't want us to end up in gridlock. People can't wait!"
2. In a statement reported in The Hill, Ms. Clinton doubled down on her promise to crack down on health insurance companies, saying, "As we see more consolidation in healthcare, among both providers and insurers, I'm worried that the balance of power is moving too far away from consumers."
She also wrote, "These mergers should be scrutinized very closely with an eye to preventing the undue concentration that they appear to create…The evidence from careful studies shows that too often the companies end up pocketing profits rather than passing savings to consumers."
3. When asked about whether undocumented workers should have access to healthcare insurance in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Ms. Clinton responded, "If they can afford it, they should be able to go into the marketplace and buy it. But it is not going to apply to people who are in need of subsidies in order to afford that because the subsidies question has to be worked out in comprehensive immigration reform. And what I do want to see is that we have more options for undocumented people to be able to get the healthcare they need."
4. "What we have to do, I think, is defend the Affordable Care Act and fix it," Ms. Clinton said in a campaign video as reported by The Street, "And [Valeant Pharmaceuticals] is one of these companies that is absolutely gouging American consumers and patients…I'm going after them; we are going to stop this. This is predatory pricing."
5. "More than 20 percent of all American women have used Planned Parenthood. Make no mistake, it is under brutal attack everywhere that Republicans are in charge," said Ms. Clinton on a campaign stop at the University of Nevada earlier this year before the state's democratic caucus, according to KOLOTV.
6. "Yes, we've cut the maternal mortality rate in half, but far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive healthcare and safe childbirth, and laws don't count for much if they're not enforced. Rights have to exist in practice — not just on paper. Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed," Ms. Clinton said at the sixth annual Women in The World Summit in New York City and reported in The Christian Post.
7. At a Democratic Town Hall in 2016 hosted by CNN, Ms. Clinton spoke on end-of-life care: "We need to have a conversation in our country. There are states that are moving to open up the opportunity without criminal liability for people to make this decision, in consultation with their families, even with medical professionals. It is a crucial issue that people deserve to understand from their own ethical, religious, faith-based perspective. I want, as president, to try to catalyze that debate because this is going to become an issue more and more often. I don't have any easy or glib answer for you. I would want to really immerse myself in the ethical writings, the health writings, the scientific writings, the religious writings. We have to be sure that nobody is coerced, nobody is under duress. And that is a difficult line to draw."
8. "The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and vaccines work," Ms. Clinton Tweeted, as reported in USA Today.
For comments and/or questions, please contact Laura Dyrda at ldyrda@beckershealthcare.com or Mary Rechtoris at mrechtoris@beckershealthcare.com.
More articles on leadership and management:
Lean program delivers at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center
5 tips for better delegation
6 thoughts on the state of healthcare from Scripps' Chris Van Gorder