How you compare
Barack Obama shares a 83% similarity with your beliefs on Health Care
I strongly support universal health care which provides access to health care regardless of ability to pay
Q: "Sen. Edwards says your plan doesn't really provide universal coverage. Does it?" A: "Absolutely it does. John [Edwards] and I have a disagreement. John thinks that the only way we get universal coverage is to mandate coverage. I think that the problem is not that people are trying to avoid getting health care coverage. It is folks like that who are desperately in desire of it, but they can can't afford it."
2007 YouTube Democratic Primary debate, Charleston SC Jul 23, 2007
"The time has come for universal health care in America," Obama said at a conference of Families USA, a health care advocacy group. "I am absolutely determined that by the end of the first term of the next president, we should have universal health care in this country."
“I emphasize reducing costs. My belief is that if we make it affordable, if we provide subsidies to those who can’t afford it, they will buy it…. [I will] bring all parties together, not negotiating behind closed doors but bringing all parties together and broadcasting those negotiations on CSPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are. Because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process…. I am absolutely committed to making sure that anybody in America who needs healthcare is going to get it.”
I support increased government spending on health care
"To help pay for all this, we will ask all but the smallest businesses who don't make a meaningful contribution today to the health care coverage of their employees to do so by supporting this new plan. And we'll also allow the temporary Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire."
I support a market-based, for-profit approach to providing more Americans with health care
Barack Obama would regulate private insurance plans to end risk-rating based on health status -- a system that can render people like cancer survivors or diabetes patients uninsurable.
"Given the money we spend on health care, we should be able to provide basic coverage to everyone. But we have to contain costs, including Medicare and Medicaid. The market alone cannot solve the problem--in part because the market has proven incapable of creating large enough insurance pools to keep costs to individuals affordable. Overall, 20% of all patients account for 80% of the care, and if we can prevent disease or manage their effects, we can dramatically improve outcomes and save money."
The Audacity of Hope, by Barack Obama, p.183-185 Oct 1, 2006
Obama's plan will provide affordable, comprehensive and portable health coverage for all Americans by: Making available a National Health Insurance Exchange to help individuals purchase private coverage and to reform the private insurance market. Any American could enroll in participating private plans, which would have to provide comprehensive benefits, issue every applicant a policy, and charge fair and stable premiums.
Campaign website, BarackObama.com, "Resource Flyers" Aug 26, 2007
