There have been few government actions so dangerous to religious liberty in America as the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare.
And with President Obama’s signature health care legislation imploding on a near-daily basis, both of the major-party candidates vying to succeed him have offered their alternatives. In the case of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, that means a blast from everyone’s past.
As first lady, Clinton advocated for a single-payer system similar to what operates in Canada, which she billed as “universal health care.” And if she is elected president, she has vowed to fight for it once again.
Her campaign website states:
Hillary Clinton has led and will continue to lead the fight to expand health care access for every American—even when it means standing up to special interests. When insurance companies spent millions to stop her efforts to reform health care in the ’90s, she refused to give up. Instead, she worked across the aisle to help pass the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Today, it covers 8 million kids. She has never given up on the fight for universal coverage.
If elected, she has promised to take the following actions, as president, with regard to health care:
- Defend and expand the Affordable Care Act, which covers 20 million people. Hillary will stand up to Republican-led attacks on this landmark law—and build on its success to bring the promise of affordable health care to more people and make a “public option” possible. She will also support letting people over 55 years old buy into Medicare.
- Bring down out-of-pocket costs like copays and deductibles. American families are being squeezed by rising out-of-pocket health care costs. Hillary believes that workers should share in slower growth of national health care spending through lower costs.
- Reduce the cost of prescription drugs. Prescription drug spending accelerated from 2.5 percent in 2013 to 12.6 percent in 2014. It’s no wonder that almost three-quarters of Americans believe prescription drug costs are unreasonable. Hillary believes we need to demand lower drug costs for hardworking families and seniors. Read more here.
- Protect consumers from unjustified prescription drug price increases from companies that market long-standing, life-saving treatments and face little or no competition. Hillary’s plan includes new enforcement tools that make drug alternatives available and increase competition, broaden emergency access to high-quality treatments from developed countries with strong safety standards, and hold drug companies accountable for unjustified price increases with new penalties. Read more here.
- Fight for health insurance for the lowest-income Americans in every state by incentivizing states to expand Medicaid—and make enrollment through Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act easier.
- Expand access to affordable health care to families regardless of immigration status. Hillary will expand access to affordable health care to families regardless of immigration status by allowing families to buy health insurance on the health exchanges regardless of their immigration status.
- Expand access to rural Americans, who often have difficulty finding quality, affordable health care. Hillary will explore cost-effective ways to make more health care providers eligible for telehealth reimbursement under Medicare and other programs, including federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics.
- Defend access to reproductive health care. Hillary will work to ensure that all women have access to preventive care, affordable contraception, and safe and legal abortion.
- Double funding for community health centers and support the healthcare workforce: As part of her comprehensive health care agenda, Hillary is committed to doubling the funding for primary-care services at community health centers over the next decade. Hillary also supports President Obama’s call for a near tripling of the size of the National Health Service Corps.
If “HillaryCare”—as it was referred to during the 1990s—were to happen, the government will have made the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor legal proceedings moot. Because when the government is paying for your healthcare—and that of everyone else—it’s the taxpayers who are footing the bill, regardless of anyone’s faith-based objections.
