2024 New Hampshire debate involving 1st District candidates: Health care costs
Updated: 10:30 PM EDT Oct 30, 2024
REVAMP ZONING AND THINK CREATIVELY ABOUT HOW WE CAN BUILD FOR THE FUTURE. SPEAKING OF EXPENSIVE CANDIDATES, HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS ARE UP AGAIN THIS YEAR, 7% MORE THAN DOUBLE THE RATE OF INFLATION. THE AVERAGE COST OF FAMILY COVERAGE IS MORE THAN $25,000, AND HALF OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESS OWNERS SAY THEY WANT THE NEXT CONGRESS TO ADDRESS HEALTH CARE POLICY. CONGRESSMAN PAPPAS, YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT WORKING TO STABILIZE AND EXPAND THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT TO LOWER THE COST OF HEALTH CARE. BUT IF THOSE IDEAS DON’T WORK TO LOWER COSTS, IS IT TIME FOR YOU TO CHANGE YOUR POSITION AND HAVE GREATER GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION IN THE HEALTH CARE MARKET? WELL, I SUPPORT MARKET BASED SOLUTIONS AND THAT’S WHY I SUPPORT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, WHICH WE’VE GOT TO CONTINUE TO DEFEND TO MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE CAN GET HEALTH INSURANCE IN THIS STATE. HEALTH CARE SHOULD BE A RIGHT AND NOT A PRIVILEGE. AND THAT’S WHY I’VE WORKED TO EXPAND MEDICAID IN THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. AND I FOUGHT TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE SUBSIDIES AVAILABLE FOR AFFORDABLE CARE ACT PLANS THAT ARE BRINGING DOWN THE COST OF HEALTH CARE FOR A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FAMILIES. WE ALSO HAVE TO RECOGNIZE THAT PRESCRIPTION DRUGS ARE ABOUT 15% OF OVERALL HEALTH CARE COSTS. AND THE FACT IS, WE’VE TAKEN ON BIG PHARMA FOR THE FIRST TIME TO CAP THE COST OF INSULIN AT $35 TO NEGOTIATE LOWER PRICES FOR OUR SENIORS ON MEDICARE. THAT’S GOING TO SAVE SENIORS ACROSS THE COUNTRY $1.5 BILLION IN THE FIRST YEAR ALONE. THAT’S GOING TO POSITIVELY IMPACT ABOUT 20,000 SENIORS RIGHT HERE IN THE GRANITE STATE. SO THERE’S MUCH MORE WORK WE CAN DO. BUT WE’VE HEARD SOME CONCERNING NEWS TODAY ABOUT SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON AND HIS PLAN SHOULD REPUBLICANS GAIN THE MAJORITY NEXT YEAR ABOUT DISMANTLING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT? WE CAN’T TURN BACK THE CLOCK. WE’VE GOT TO BE GOING FORWARD AND PROTECTING COVERAGE, MAKING IT MORE AFFORDABLE AND CONTINUING TO ADDRESS THE HIGH COST OF PRESCRIPTIONS. COUNCILOR PRESCOTT JUST TODAY, HOUSE SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON DID SAY THAT IF PRESIDENT TRUMP IS REELECTED, HE WILL PUSH, QUOTE, MASSIVE REFORM TO THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. IN THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF CONGRESS. NOW, LAST WEEK, RIGHT HERE, YOU SAID YOU WOULD NOT REPEAL OBAMACARE. DO SPEAKER JOHNSON’S COMMENTS CHANGE YOUR MIND? AND IN GENERAL, WHAT IS ONE SPECIFIC THING YOU WOULD PUSH FOR TO LOWER GRANITE STATERS HEALTH CARE COSTS? MY MIND HAS NOT CHANGED. THE ONE THING THAT WE NEED TO DO TO LOWER HEALTH CARE COSTS IS TO MAKE SURE OUR ECONOMY IS STRONG AND BUSINESSES ARE PROFITABLE. WE CANNOT HAVE MORE TAX INCREASES IS WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED WHEN THE TAX CUTS EXPIRE NEXT YEAR, WE MUST STAND STRONG AND MAKE SURE WE DO NOT ALLOW ANY TAX INCREASES AT ALL. IT WOULD DISRUPT DISRUPT OUR ECONOMY AND BUSINESSES WOULD SUFFER. AND THEREFORE THOSE BUSINESSES THAT OFFER HEALTH CARE LIKE MINE, HEALTH CARE INSURANCE PREMIUMS ARE PAID 100% FOR ANY EMPLOYEE, FULL TIME EMPLOYEE THAT WANTS IT. AND THAT’S WHAT WE DO. IF WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE ECONOMY, BECOME DISRUPTED BY INCREASING TAXES, AND WE HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HAVING PEOPLE BEING ON HEALTH INSURANCE, I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE ECONOMY IS STRONG. AND HOW WE DO THAT IS MAKE SURE WE DRIVE DOWN INFLATION. MAKE SURE WE MAKE SURE THAT WE BALANCE OUR BUDGET, CUT THE DEFICIT, MAKE SURE WE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE. SOLVING THE SOCIAL SECURITY ISSUE. NEXT QUESTION I DIDN’T REALLY HEAR AN ANSWER THERE ABOUT DEFUNDING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT. I THINK THAT’S IMPORTANT GIVEN THE CONTEXT OF THIS DEBATE AND WHAT NATIONAL REPUBLICANS ARE LOOKING TO DO. THEY’VE BEEN TRYING TO DISMANTLE IT FOR OVER A DECADE. IF THEY GET THE MAJORITIES, THEY WILL ABSOLUTELY MOVE IN THAT DIRECTION. AND THE FACT IS, WHEN RUSSELL PRESCOTT WAS IN THE STATE SENATE, HE VOTED TO BLOCK MEDICAID EXPANSION, WHICH NOW COVERS 60,000 GRANITE STATERS AND HE WROTE A BILL WHEN HE WAS IN THE STATE SENATE THAT HAS RAISED INSURANCE COSTS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES, WAS REPEALED BY GOVERNOR LYNCH AND A BIPARTISAN MAJORITY IN THE LEGISLATURE BECAUSE OF ITS IMPACTS ON HEALTH CARE IN OUR STATE. AND SO I THINK HE JUST HAS THE TRACK RECORD THAT’S NOT POSITIVE FOR THE PEOPLE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE WHEN IT COMES TO EXPANDING CARE AND HOLDING DOWN COSTS. COUNCILOR 30S TO RESPOND. WELL, CERTAINLY, I DO APPRECIATE THE THE CRITICISM THAT THAT THAT CHRIS PAPPAS HAS, BUT IT IS MISPLACED. THE PROCESS OF MAKING SURE THAT WE HAVE MORE AND MORE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN OUR STATE, THAT WAS THE REASON FOR THE BILL THAT HE SAYS, DROVE DOWN TO DRIVE DOWN COSTS. ALSO, WHEN IT COMES TO THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE KEEP IT. IT’S IN PLACE AND MAKE SURE THAT WE DO ADJUSTMENTS TO IT. WHY I VOTED AGAINST IT WHEN IT CAME TO THE STATE SENATE WAS BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY CHANGED DRASTICALLY. THE WORK REQUIREMENT FOR ALL PEOPLE IN THE UNITED STATES. IT MADE IT A SOCIALIZED SYSTEM WHERE YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORK IF
2024 New Hampshire debate involving 1st District candidates: Health care costs
Updated: 10:30 PM EDT Oct 30, 2024
At their Granite State Debate, New Hampshire 1st District candidates Chris Pappas and Russell Prescott discuss the Affordable Care Act and how they would push to lower health care costs.
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
At their Granite State Debate, New Hampshire 1st District candidates Chris Pappas and Russell Prescott discuss the Affordable Care Act and how they would push to lower health care costs.