Health care is hot issue in 12th Congressional race
By Jacqueline Lee, Belleville News-Democrat | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Four years after President
The three
Enyart, a
As of September, about 217,500
About 7.3 million Americans signed up for private insurance through the health insurance marketplace last year and they will be asked to renew their coverage. And, according to a Gallup and
Beyond health care reform, the congressional candidates responded to a written questionnaire on a variety of domestic issues, including immigration, environmental regulations on the coal industry and a corporation's right not to provide contraceptives to employees.
ENYART
Enyart believes there are many aspects of the Affordable Care Act that are beneficial, such as families being able to keep their adult children and dependents up to age 26 and provisions dealing with pre-existing conditions. Prescription drug costs are also lower for many seniors.
"I've got a very good friend whose wife had cancer 10 years ago, nearly died, but she recovered," Enyart said recently. "She would not be insurable today if it weren't for Obamacare.
How about a child who gets terribly ill as a child? ... There was a lifetime cap on what could be spent on health insurance. That cap has been eliminated because of the ACA."
Enyart said he will continue to work on ways to improve the system's performance and affordability.
In September, Enyart voted with the House majority to support delaying an aspect of the Affordable Care Act. He supported giving companies with 49 or fewer employees until
Enyart, 65, is a retired
BOST
Bost has used Obama's health plan, unpopular with Republicans, to stir his base. The 20-year state legislator has said he would repeal the mandate.
But, as one of 435 House members, he says he will have to work with what was implemented to make revisions that lessen the impact on small businesses.
In 2013, Bost and other Republican legislators in
Bost believes health-care reform should occur on the state level and address three main issues: making health care affordable and portable; ensuring residents can get coverage despite pre-existing conditions, and allowing companies with employees in multiple states to pool together.
"There are sensible plans out there. ... that still deal with affordable and portable and pre-existing conditions without totally gutting what was our health-care system in
Bost, 53, and his wife own
BRADSHAW
Bradshaw, an emergency room registered nurse in
Bradshaw said Obamacare is not about providing health care to everyone. Instead, it is about giving subsidies to clinics and insurance companies.
"Obamacare is an example of using what people want to screw them over," Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw, 61, said Obamacare has negatively impacted her work and those of other hospital staffers by forcing medical providers to transition to computer records.
She said a public
RESIDENTS REACT
But the bottom line is that the new federal insurance system affects everyone, because doctors, hospitals and insurance companies all charge too much to offset people who cannot pay, Frerichs said.
And, his business will not get tax credits it previously was eligible for because his employees are not participating in the health exchange since the plans they have offer better coverage. Frerichs employees will keep their plans, which offer 100 percent coverage once a deductible is met, while the exchange offers plans with either a 80-20 or 90-10 split.
"We all have a hand in making health care work," Frerichs said. "But I don't believe they went after it the right way to solve the insurance crisis. The government tried to make it a government affair."
At a candidate forum in October in
Dancy said it was helpful to hear the perspectives of candidates from across the political spectrum on the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act, and she will further research criticisms voiced of the program.
Dancy said she liked what she heard from Enyart and Bradshaw because she believes
"I think, overall, we can work toward universal health care for our country -- if we work together," she said.
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Editor's note: This is the second of three stories that look at where candidates in the
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