Mike Huckabee on Health Care

Huckabee says the health care system in the U.S. is "irrevocably broken." A strong advocate of preventive health care (he personally lost over 100 pounds), he proposes an overhaul of the health care system with input from the private sector, health care providers, and Congress. He would move to a consumer-based, not an employer-based, health care system, as well as making health insurance more portable from one job to the next. Huckabee proposes health insurance tax deductions (tax credits for low-income families).

Health Insurance: Private/Government

• Overhaul the health care system with the assistance of the private sector, Congress, health care providers, and others.
• Use the states as laboratories for new market-based strategies.
• Move to consumer-based, not employer-based, health care.
• Make insurance more portable, carrying over from one job to another.
• Create health insurance tax deductions for consumers as well as businesses.
• Use tax credits for health insurance costs for low-income families.

Medical Costs

• Encourage bringing down health care costs within the private sector.
• Use preventive health care to address medical problems and expenses, especially those related to chronic disease, in the health care system.
• Reform medical liability.
• Adopt electronic record keeping.

Health Savings Accounts

• Broaden health savings accounts to include more than just accounts with high deductible limits.