Vice Presidential debate includes references to health care

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.) and Republican vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Thursday during a debate at Washington University in St. Louis discussed health care and other proposals offered by Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Washington Post reports.

During the debate, moderated by Gwen Ifill of PBS, Biden said, "John McCain -- and he's a good man -- but John McCain thought the answer is that tried-and-true Republican response: deregulate, deregulate," adding, "He wants to do for the health-care industry -- deregulate it and let the free market move -- like he did for the banking industry" (Barnes/Eilperin, Washington Post, 10/3). According to Biden, under the McCain health care proposal, "20 million of you are going to be dropped" from employer-sponsored health insurance (Marinucci, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/2).

Palin said that McCain has a "good health care plan," which includes "smart" and "budget neutral" refundable tax credits. In reference to the tax credits, Palin said, "That doesn't cost the government anything, as opposed to Barack Obama's plan to mandate health care coverage and have a universal, government-run program. ... I don't think it's going to be real pleasing for Americans to consider health care being taken over by the feds" (Dallas Morning News, 10/3).

The New York Times, USA Today and the Washington Post, among other newspapers, on Friday examined the accuracy of statements on health care and other issues that Biden and Palin made during the debate.

Health Care Reform Prospects

The "current financial crisis has basically doomed prospects for health reform next year, no matter whether" Obama or McCain becomes president, according to health care policy experts, CongressDaily reports.

Health insurance consultant Bob Laszewski said, "The chance for major health care reform in either 2009 or 2010 is now zero." He added, "Obama's health plan will cost at least $100 billion a year. That's now a nonstarter. McCain's health plan counts on deregulation of the health insurance industry. Do I even need to explain to you why that is a political nonstarter in this environment?"

Jeff Goldsmith, president of Health Futures, in a blog wrote, "There will simply be no extra dollars in the federal budget for the uninsured for many years," adding, "Obama's health reform plan, which relied on new taxes, is dead as a doornail unless he is willing to push the budget deficit into Argentinean territory." In addition, Goldsmith said that the next president "will not have the political bandwidth to do a Hillary-style reform."

According to Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman, "Health care will have to compete in a much more crowded environment."

However, "some health care action is going to be unavoidable" next year, as Congress will have to address legislation to reauthorize SCHIP and issues related to Medicare physician reimbursements, according to CongressDaily. In addition, some health care policy experts predict that the long-term financial stability of Medicare, as well as health care in general, could become the "nation's next fiscal crisis," CongressDaily reports.

Emory University health economist Ken Thorpe said that, as "wage growth slows down, and as the deficits rise, we have got to find ways, both in our public budgets, to slow the growth in both Medicare and Medicaid, and we've got to find ways in the private sector to make health care more affordable for working families and for business." He added, "Otherwise, despite the talk about universal coverage, nobody will be able to afford health care in this country 10 to 15 years from now" (Rovner, CongressDaily, 10/3).

Editorial, Opinion Piece

The Post on Friday published an editorial and an opinion piece that addressed health care issues in the vice presidential debate. Summaries appear below.

• Washington Post: Biden and Palin "conducted a civil discussion about the relative merits of the two tickets," but "there was little serious give-and-take about the major issues of the day," such as health care, and "much trading of canned and misleading talking points." According to the editorial, both Biden and Palin "offered a grossly distorted picture of the other side's plans for health care." Palin "wrongly" stated that the "Obama proposal amounts to a 'universal government run program,'" and Biden understated the "value of Sen. John McCain's proposed tax credits," the editorial states. The editorial concludes, "Last night's debate was no train wreck for either ticket, but it left one hoping that the remaining two presidential encounters will be more illuminating on the issues" (Washington Post, 10/3).
• E.J. Dionne, Washington Post: Palin during the debate decided to "stick to the talking points she had stuffed into her head, no matter what the subject" of the questions, Post columnist Dionne writes. In a discussion of the McCain health care proposal, Palin mentioned that the plan would provide refundable tax credits but "failed to mention that McCain would pay for the credit by taxing existing insurance benefits," Dionne writes. According to Dionne, "Biden -- politely -- pounced on her omission, warning that McCain's plan could lead millions to lose their insurance coverage," and "Palin didn't come back to defend her running mate" (Dionne, Washington Post, 10/3).