THE RAW DEAL: John Kerry's Empty Health Care Rhetoric

George W. Bush ^ | May 10, 2004

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"John Kerry's campaign rhetoric is at odds with the reality of his record on health care. His campaign promises would shift the cost of health care to taxpayers and increase red tape. John Kerry has consistently opposed the President’s efforts to lower health care costs by voting against medical malpractice reform and the Medicare Reform and Prescription Drug Bill."

- Steve Schmidt, Bush-Cheney '04 Spokesman

Kerry Would Shift Existing Costs To Taxpayers

Kerry's Claim: "First, Kerry said his plan will control costs by giving relief to businesses and passing savings on to workers. This will save employees up to $1,000 in premiums a year." ("Kerry Offers Relief to Families and Businesses Struggling Under Skyrocketing Health Care Costs," U.S. Newswire, 5/10/04)

THE TRUTH: What Kerry claims would be a reduction in health care costs merely would be a shift of existing costs from premium-payers to taxpayers -- some $230 billion over nine years, according to Kenneth Thorpe, a health care economics professor at Emory University and former Clinton administration official. ("An Overview and Analysis of the Democratic Presidential Candidates' Health Care Reform Proposals," 9/7/03)

Kerry's Plan Would Cause "A Negligible Reduction In Drug Spending"

Kerry's Claim: "Second, Kerry explained that he will cut costs by making prescription drugs more affordable through a series of reforms, including allowing reimportation." ("Kerry Offers Relief to Families and Businesses Struggling Under Skyrocketing Health Care Costs," U.S. Newswire, 5/10/04)

THE TRUTH: According to an April 29, 2004 CBO report, "On the basis of its evaluation of proposals to date, CBO has concluded that permitting the importation of foreign-distributed prescription drugs would produce at most a modest reduction in prescription drug spending in the United States. Permitting importation only from Canada would produce a negligible reduction in drug spending." (“Would Prescription Drug Importation Reduce U.S. Drug Spending?” http://www.cbo.gov, Accessed 5/10/04)

Kerry Is Following The President's Lead On Information Technology

Kerry's Claim: "Third, Kerry said he will cut administrative costs by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in our medical system. With nearly $350 billion currently spent on non-medical costs in our health care system, Kerry's plan will cut down on these costs by ensuring all Americans have secure, private electronic medical records and by giving health care providers incentives to simplify and streamline their paperwork." ("Kerry Offers Relief to Families and Businesses Struggling Under Skyrocketing Health Care Costs," U.S. Newswire, 5/10/04)

THE TRUTH: The President has proposed using information technology to improve health care through electronic medical records and other innovations. The President proposes to use modern information technology to improve the information flow, resulting in fewer medical errors, more appropriate levels of care, improved treatment of chronic illnesses, reduced liability exposure, and less administrative overhead. President Bush's FY'05 Budget request doubles the amount of funding for demonstration projects that will improve health IT systems in communities and states to $100 million. The President has set a goal to make sure that most Americans have personal electronic health records within the next ten years. (White House Press release, “President Unveils Tech Initiatives for Energy, Health Care, Internet”, 4/26/04)

Kerry Is Ignoring The Issues Underlying Health Care Costs

Kerry's Claim: "Fourth, Kerry said his plan will improve efficiency and quality of care by rewarding providers for taking steps that reduce errors and investing in technology." ("Kerry Offers Relief to Families and Businesses Struggling Under Skyrocketing Health Care Costs," U.S. Newswire, 5/10/04)

THE TRUTH: The medical liability crisis is threatening patient safety and quality of care. Many preventable errors and complications in the health care system do not result from failures by individual doctors, but from problems in how health professionals work together to provide increasingly complex medical services. But efforts to reduce errors through better information sharing are impeded by litigation fears: good-faith efforts by medical professionals to generate new information and insights to improve care should not be rewarded by lawsuits based on this new information. According to a study by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), "A more conducive legal environment is needed to encourage health care professionals and organizations to identify, analyze, and prevent errors without increasing the threat of litigation and without compromising pa- tients' legal rights." ("To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System (2000)," Institute of Medicine, http://www.nap.edu/openbook/0309068371/html/, Accessed 5/10/04)

Kerry Is Running Against His Record On Medical Liability Reform

Kerry's Claim: "Finally, Kerry said he will make our medical liability system fairer for doctors and patients alike by substantially reducing meritless claims and enhancing opportunities to resolve claims with litigation." ("Kerry Offers Relief to Families and Businesses Struggling Under Skyrocketing Health Care Costs," U.S. Newswire, 5/10/04)

THE TRUTH: Kerry has voted against medical liability reform 10 times. Meaningful medical liability reform would lower the cost of health care and help more Americans afford insurance. According to a 2003 Joint Economic Committee report, meaningful medical liability reform could lower health care costs sufficiently that another 3.9 million Americans could afford health insurance. (Joint Economic Committee, “Liability for Medical Malpractice: Issues and Evidence”; May 2003) According to Trial Lawyers, Inc.: A Report on the Lawsuit Industry in American (2003), 80 percent of doctors say that they order unnecessary tests to bolster their chances against malpractice claims, and 74 percent say that they make unnecessary referrals to specialists. (http://www.triallawyersinc.com, Accessed 5/10/04) And an HHS study shows that defensive medicine accounts for a $28 billion cost to the federal government each year. (July 25, 2002 report from HHS, “Confronting the New Health Care Crisis: Improving Health Care Quality and Lowering Costs By Fixing Our Medical Liability System”; http://www.hhs.gov Accessed 5/10/04)

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