Words: Biden supports federal funding and has stated that he will develop a plan for full health care access within six months of taking office, starting with catastrophic insurance and full coverage for children. He advocates cutting costs overall and lowering costs for employers. He also feels that we need to focus on prevention rather than just treatment. “We need not just 100,000 new cops, but 100,000 new nurses that we fund in order to make things better.”

Actions: Biden voted FOR tax-exempt medical savings accounts (1996), AGAINST Medicare means testing (1997), FOR increasing tobacco restrictions (1998), AGAINST limiting self-employment health deduction (1999), FOR including prescription drugs under Medicare (2000), AGAINST the Republican “prescription drug benefit” bill (2001), FOR allowing patients to sue HMOs (2001), FOR allowing the import of prescription drugs from Canada (2002), FOR a limited Medicare prescription drug benefit (2003), FOR negotiating bulk purchases for Medicare prescription drugs (2005), FOR increasing the Medicaid rebate for producing generics (2005), FOR expanding the enrollment period for Medicare (2006), and FOR requiring negotiated prescription prices for Medicare (2007). The American Public Health Association has given Biden a rating of 100%.

More about: Health Care, Joe Biden.