Republican candidates both attending — and not attending — Thursday night's debate hosted by Fox News touched on key healthcare issues.
Seven candidates participated in the Fox News debate in Des Moines, Iowa, including the following: retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, MD, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ohio Gov. John Kasich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.)
Notably absent was Donald Trump, who instead hosted a rally at nearby Drake University.
Here are the five takeaways from discussions in the Republican camp Thursday night.
1. Gov. Christie said if there was one thing the federal government should do away with it is Planned Parenthood funding. "Let me tell you something, when you see thousands upon thousands upon thousands of children being murdered in the womb, I can't think of anything better than that," Gov. Christie said.
2. Sen. Cruz called the Affordable Care Act the "biggest job-killer in this country." He said he would repeal the ACA because millions of Americans have lost their jobs because of the healthcare reform law, been forced into part-time work, lost coverage or their physician and seen premiums grow. However, the ACA is notably associated with decreasing the uninsured population and a study published earlier this month in Health Affairs debunked the notion the law was forcing Americans into part-time work.
3. Sen. Cruz wants to replace the ACA with three specific reforms. This includes interstate purchase of health insurance, expanded health savings accounts and removing the connection between health insurance and employment so the unemployed still have access to affordable care. "I think that's a much more attractive vision for healthcare than the Washington-drive, top-down Obamacare that is causing so many millions of people to hurt," Sen. Cruz said.
4. Gov. Kasich touted the benefits of Medicaid expansion in Ohio. "We took the growth of Medicaid from over 10 percent in my second budget to 2.5 percent, without cutting off one person or cutting one benefit, because we — we innovated the government." He said Medicaid expansion has helped improve drug addiction treatment and mental health treatment. Much of this decision, Gov. Kasich as previously said, and again underscored, was driven by his faith.
"In terms of my faith, look, all I say is that when I study scripture, I know that people who live in the shadows need to have a chance. But I'm not deciding that anybody's got to make these decisions the way that I do, on the basis of what I do. But what I will tell you is this. The time has come to stop ignoring the mentally ill in this country and begin to treat them and get them on their feet, along with, of course, with treating the drug-addicted," Gov. Kasich said.
5. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump hosted a rally to raise $6 million for veterans. Mr. Trump said he was boycotting the debate because Megyn Kelly was a moderator. At his nearby event, Mr. Trump spoke about issues facing veterans when they return to the U.S., including poor healthcare, housing, drug abuse, mental health issues and homelessness, according to CNN.
"Our vets are being mistreated. Illegal immigrants are treated better in many cases than our vets and it's not going to happen any more. It's not going to happen any more," Mr. Trump said, according to CNN.
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