Where Bob Dole Stands on Health Care

Bob Dole Favors Common Sense, Free Market Health-Care Reforms
Losing health insurance coverage or facing obstacles to obtaining such coverage is a real concern for many Americans. We need insurance reform -- but the answer is not a federal government takeover of the health care industry. Bob Dole supports consumer choice, open enrollment and portability of medical insurance.

In 1994, Dole introduced a health care reform bill which had no price controls, no mandates and no taxes. The bill took on a common sense, free market approach to health-care reform, focusing primarily on insurance reform, while offering subsidies to help low-income Americans buy health insurance.

As President, he will:

• Seek ways to make health care more accessible and affordable for all Americans.

• Ensure that individuals who change jobs do not lose their coverage or face pre-existing condition limitations.

• Give self-employed individuals the same tax deductions that large corporations have to buy health insurance.

• Make Medical Savings Accounts a real option available to all Americans.

• Support efforts to make community and home based care more readily available.
  
  Medicaid Should Serve Low-Income Families in a More Effective Way
  Medicaid reform is crucial. The states should be given the opportunity to redesign their programs without the heavy hand of the federal government, so that they can serve low-income families and the disabled in a more efficient and effective way.
  
  As President, Bob Dole will overhaul the nation's Medicaid system by giving greater control to state governments who best know the needs of the low-income and disabled populations in their state.
  
  Bob Dole Will Propose Innovative Solutions to Address Long-Term Care Needs
  Bob Dole believes that access and funding for long-term care is as serious a problem as any before us. As President, Bob Dole will:

• Propose a tax deduction for families who care for their elderly parents or family members.

• Encourage the development of private long-term care insurance and provide government help for those wishing to purchase the coverage but unable to afford it.

• Expand the options for long-term care beyond institutional care to include home, hospice and community-based care alternatives.

• Support efforts to ensure the quality of nursing home care and to adequately protect against spousal impoverishment.
  
  Bob Dole Will Save Medicare from Bankruptcy
  Bob Dole is committed to protecting, improving and strengthening Medicare.
  
  Last spring, a study supported by three members of Bill Clinton's own Cabinet showed that Medicare will be bankrupt in five years. Bob Dole will act now to save Medicare for future generations. As President, Bob Dole will:

• Lead the effort to save Medicare from insolvency -- guaranteeing that Medicare will be available to future generations.

• Support giving Medicare beneficiaries the right to choose the kind of coverage that best fits their own priorities and needs. Bob Dole thinks that they should be given the same kind of choices that federal government employees have had for years.

• Advocate innovative ideas like Medical Savings Accounts and managed care as well as traditional fee-for-service plans.

• Recommend the establishment of a blue-ribbon bipartisan advisory commission -- similar to the one he served on in 1983 that saved Social Security -- to solve the Medicare crisis.
  
  A Better America
  As President, Bob Dole will use common sense solutions to reform the health care industry. Americans won't fear losing their health care benefits when they leave their jobs. States will be given the freedom to reform Medicaid. And Americans in need of long-term care will have more options.