In summary, Hillary Clinton’s stance on health care is that the United States government should provide affordable universal healthcare to all of its citizens. She agrees in principle with many of the healthcare reforms that have been introduced under the Obama administration, although she has called for healthcare reform to be made incrementally in the past. Hillary Clinton has called herself a “moderate” on this issue, although some feel that her positions do not fall under this category.
Hillary Clinton’s stance on health reform has changed over the years. One large factor in this change was the defeat of Bill Clinton’s healthcare reform proposals that were introduced in times past. At the time, Hillary Clinton headed up the task force that introduced many of these proposals. The defeat was humiliating and many decried the Clinton’s plan for sweeping health care reforms. Clinton later stated that this experience taught her the value of bipartisan cooperation and the importance of taking incremental steps towards a goal, as opposed in introducing revolutionary reforms all at once.
Hillary Clinton has stated more than once that she strongly favors the expansion of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Her proposals related to this program would allow up to five million additional children to enroll. She also supports allowing elderly persons from the ages of 55 to 65 to buy into Medicare. Furthermore, Hillary Clinton maintains the position that mental health should be considered on par with physical health conditions.
While Hillary Clinton’s health care position is different in some ways to that of President Obama, there are many similarities. Both are in favor of healthier lifestyles rather than fad diets like HCG drops to lose weight. Both favor universal health care in which all United States citizens have health insurance that enables them to get needed care as and when needed. Both favor government subsidized care that would provide insurance for those who would not otherwise be able to afford it.
