Drugs: Costs/Importation

• Permit Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. Current Medicare law prohibits government negotiation with pharmaceutical companies.
• Supported legislation that would allow re-importation of drugs from other nations that have similar safety procedures to those in the U.S.
• Supports getting generic drugs to the market more quickly.
• Enable more oversight over financial relationships between providers and pharmaceutical companies.
• Monitor and minimize prescription direct-to-consumer advertising.

Drug Safety

• Ensure tests for children, as well as adults, are conducted on new prescription drugs.
• Supported new FDA reform bill giving the agency broader regulatory powers.

Electronic Record Keeping

• Require health care providers and health plans participating in federal programs to use privacy-protected information technology to cut costs, reduce medical errors, and lower insurance premiums.
• Offer one-time financial assistance to help hospitals and doctors to use information technology.

Medicare/Medicaid

• Enable Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs to serve all low-income individuals.
• Provide a tax credit for public and private retiree health plans to offset catastrophic expenditures at a specified threshold.
• Give employers the choice of bringing early retirees into the Health Choices Menu.
• Target cuts in excessive Medicare overpayments to managed care plans and HMOs.

Stem Cells

• Lift the ban on stem cell research.

Public Health Issues

• Continue support of community health centers and public hospitals to serve vulnerable populations.
• Put in place more commonsense medical malpractice law.

Abortion

• Respect a woman's right to choose.
• Expand family planning services, especially for low-income women.
• Continue to reduce teen pregnancies.

Other

• Redirect income tax rate cuts and exemption increases for households with income over $250,000 to help with health care finance reform.
• Increase federal funding for cancer research.

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Information compiled by Michele Foust, WebMD Medical News.

Medically reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

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