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 NH Voters Ask Tough Questions of GOP Presidential Candidates on Health Care - And Uncover NuancesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, January 09, 2012
CONCORD, NH - Talking face to face with New Hampshire voters, many of the GOP Presidential candidates acknowledge support for key provisions of the new health law according to information collected by NH Citizens Alliance for Action and Granite State Progress. The New Hampshire conversations show a different side of the candidates than their national-oriented campaign talking points, and illustrate how New Hampshire residents use their First-in-the-Nation Primary status to pin candidates down on the specifics. "For months, our members have birddogged the GOP Presidential candidates on their stances on health care, trying to elicit from them exactly what they would do to ensure quality, affordable health care for every American," said Sarah Chaisson Warner, director of NH Citizens Alliance for Action. "We are tired of candidates using health coverage as a wedge issue when they can't tell us face to face that young adults should be kicked off coverage or that insurance companies should be able to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions." Granite Staters take a particular interest in ensuring the new health law stays intact; many had followed then-candidate Barack Obama and other Democrat and Republican candidates from event to event during the 2004 and 2008 Presidential campaigns to encourage candidates to talk about their positions on health care, and then actively campaigned for strong health reform measures during the lead up to passage of the Affordable Care Act. "New Hampshire is proud of the role we played in making health care reform a priority for the Obama Administration," Chaisson Warner said. "Passing the new health law was a historic milestone in our country and an incredible victory for families and small businesses. We cannot move backward, and these candidates know it." NH Citizens Alliance for Action and Granite State Progress offer a glimpse at some of the key statements made by the GOP Presidential candidates when faced with real questions from New Hampshire voters: Jon Huntsman Campaign Rhetoric Huntsman's campaign website states that he would repeal the new health law entirely: "Rather than analyzing each piece of red tape, Gov. Huntsman supports a full repeal." [Huntsman website, accessed 1.7.12] Real Response to NH Voter "When asked about Obamacare, Huntsman said he has not promised to repeal the health care law like many of his primary contenders, but said he would take a balanced approach to the bill. Good measures in the bill such as coverage for people with pre-existing conditions or allowing young adults to stay on their parents plan up to a certain age should stay in place, along with other good measures in the bill if possible, he said. He added the Supreme Court has yet to rule whether or not the bill is constitutional, he said. [Union Leader, Lone candidate in NH, Huntsman stumps at hospital, 1.3.12]
Mitt Romney Campaign Rhetoric Romney's campaign website states that he would repeal the new health law entirely: "On his first day in office, [Mitt Romney] will issue an executive order paving the way for waivers from Obamacare for all 50 states." [Romney website, accessed 1.7.12] Real Response to NH Voter "The town hall featured a tough question on health care, but it didn't reflect the standard Republican call for complete repeal of the plan. Laura Mick, of Manchester wanted to know if Romney would sustain the part of the health care law that mandates coverage for pre-existing conditions. "What are your thoughts and ideas on upholding this really amazing new chapter in our country?" she said. Romney maintained that he would work to repeal the health care reform plan, but he would look for a way to continue some protections. "I would propose at the federal level we say that if individuals have been continuously covered for some period of time, that they can't be denied ongoing coverage because they've developed what's known as a pre-existing condition," he said." [WMUR, Romney Answers Voter Questions in Town Hall Meeting, 6.3.11]
Campaign Rhetoric Santorum's campaign website states that he would repeal the new health law entirely. [Santorum website, accessed 1.7.12] Real Response to NH Voter Her son, now 23, was diagnosed with cancer at 5, she told him. He was treated for more than three years, and graduated from college just before Christmas ... Now, he could possibly be denied health insurance because of his cancer -- a pre-existing condition that allows insurance companies to reject him for coverage if he were to attempt to buy a policy on his own. Even if he could find insurance, it would be for premiums he couldn't afford, she contended. Santorum, who would undo the president's health care overhaul program, which forbids insurers from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, told Cuomo-Nason that higher premiums for those with pre-existing conditions is a reasonable practice. He favored a consumer-driven model of health care. To expect that everybody pays the same "is unfair to those who do everything right" when it comes to maintaining their health. But in the face of her son's example of a disease that is no fault of his, Santorum acknowledged that charging higher premiums for those with pre-existing conditions is a problem. "I disagree with that, and I would change that," Santorum said. [Boston Globe, Nurse challenges Santorum, 1.7.12] Also from article: "When Santorum took questions, Cuomo-Nason's was the last of the morning. She wanted to challenge him on an earlier comment on the campaign stump, that no one, he said, has ever died because of a lack of health care in this country. "That was a very stupid thing for me to say," he conceded to the woman."
Newt Gingrich Campaign Rhetoric Gingrich's campaign website states that he would repeal the new health law entirely: "We must repeal and replace the left's big government health bill with real solutions that will lower costs and improve health outcomes." [Gingrich website, accessed 1.7.12] Real Response to NH Voter "But when asked by real New Hampshire health care voters, Gingrich said he would keep key provisions of the bill, such as young adult coverage. Q: I just read this morning in Forbes, I think, that over 600,000 people newly insured in the first quarter of just 2011 and most of those were young people who previously had no insurance. So I'm just wondering, what's bad about that? ... GINGRICH: That's right. That particular piece there is nothing wrong with. I didn't say there is anything wrong with that. I'm happy to concede out of 2,800 pages, at least 200 are good." [ThinkProgress, Gingrich embraces ACA, 5.25.11]
Ron Paul Campaign Rhetoric Paul's campaign website states that he would repeal the new health law entirely. [Paul website, accessed 1.7.12] Unfortunately ... Paul Acknowledges "His Own Plans May Seem 'Cold Hearted'" "And when asked by real New Hampshire health care voters, Paul didn't think twice about leaving kids out in the cold. Paul has called for the eventual elimination of Medicare and Medicaid and has suggested that charity hospitals should pick up the slack for the uninsured. That view got one woman in Manchester up in arms. "Thirty three percent of the children in the U.S. are on Medicaid and another 10 percent are uninsured," the woman said. "You have offered charity by doctors as a solution to this. Do you really think that 43 percent of America's children will be taken care of by charity?" Paul said that his current budget preserves the program, but it would eventually be phased out because of the unsustainable cost ... As the congressman was finishing his answer, another woman in the audience shouted, "What about the 43 percent?" Paul, seemingly taken off guard, shot back, "You mean when? Right now?" ... Paul's voice then picked up as he stared at the woman and acknowledged that his own plans may seem "cold hearted," but he is ultimately trying to save the country from financial ruin." [ABC's The Note, Ron Paul Attacked for Views on Health Care, 12.19.11]
Rick Perry Campaign Rhetoric Perry's campaign website states that he would repeal the new health law entirely. [Perry website, accessed 1.7.12] Unfortunately ... Perry Tap-Danced Around Real Answers "Perry had to do a little more footwork when questions were posed about his stance on health care. He was pressed first by Jillian Dubois of Hudson, who wanted to know how he'd deliver health care to the millions of those living without coverage. A follow-up question came from Dave Tiffany, 63, of Hollis, who reiterated the question, looking for Perry's solution for the "50 million Americans in this country living without health care." "I want to know what will you do if you're president, about this really serious problem we have - or will you fiddle while Rome burns?" Tiffany asked. Perry assured Tiffany that as Texas governor he's not been fiddling, but rather creating "the most dynamic economy in the country," that has recently attracted major companies including Caterpillar, Facebook and eBay. Perry reinforced his belief that managing health care should be left up to individual states to work out, creating competition and creative solutions that can be shared. After Perry's exit from the venue, Tiffany said he was not impressed. "He didn't really answer the question," said Tiffany, who said he came out to hear Perry, because he could. "It's easy to criticize Obamacare. I've heard enough of that; I wanted to hear about Perrycare." [Nashua Patch, Perry Talks Tough on China, Healthcare at Town Hall, 11.16.11] "Candidates calling for full repeal would jeopardize the numerous benefits that Americans are already accessing under the new health law," said Zandra Rice Hawkins, director of Granite State Progress. "Politics shouldn't trump good public policy, and the GOP candidates need to be more vocal about which pieces of the ACA they support." ### Granite State Progress is a progressive advocacy organization that addresses issues of immediate state and local concern. Granite State Progress works as a communications hub for the progressive community to provide a strong, credible voice in advancing progressive solutions to critical community problems. NH Citizens Alliance for Action for Action is a non-profit organization devoted to social, economic, and political justice. For over a decade, NHCAA has focused its work on improving access to quality, affordable health care and coverage, ensuring smart budget investments, and protecting the economic security of Granite Staters.
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