2020 Conventions: on Health Care
Donald Trump:
FactCheck: Coronavirus testing has missed 90% of cases
Trump said, "We developed, from scratch, the largest and most advanced testing system in the world. America has tested more than every country in Europe put together, and more than every nation in the Western Hemisphere combined."FactCheck:
Testing in the US has been less than successful and has never reached levels that satisfy public health experts. After getting off the ground slowly and late, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield, admits the US has missed 90% of coronavirus cases with its
testing efforts.
Trump said the US has "developed a wide array of effective treatments, including a powerful anti-body treatment known as convalescent plasma that will save thousands of lives"
FactCheck: The US has not yet developed a single
new treatment for coronavirus. The only treatments that have been shown to work against coronavirus are old treatments - dexamethasone, remdesivir, blood thinners and convalescent plasma, a 100-year-old last-ditch treatment.
Source: CNN Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech
Aug 28, 2020
Donald Trump:
FactCheck: Undercut protection for preexisting conditions
Trump again pledged that he and the entire Republican Party "will always, and very strongly, protect patients with preexisting conditions."FactCheck: His administration has consistently taken steps to undermine the Affordable Care Act without
presenting alternative plans that would offer similar benefits. Congressional Republicans have also repeatedly put forward bills and filed lawsuits that would weaken Obamacare's protections for people with preexisting conditions.
Trump said, "Last
month, I took on Big Pharma and signed orders that will massively lower the cost of your prescription drugs," and also promised to "further reduce the cost of prescription drugs."
FactCheck: The President signed four executive orders aimed at
reducing drug prices, but it's far from clear whether they will ever take effect or greatly lower prices if they do. Also, drug prices have continued to rise during the Trump administration, though the growth rate has slowed by some measures.
Source: CNN Fact-Check on 2020 Republican Convention speech
Aug 28, 2020
Donald Trump:
We'll have a safe & effective coronavirus vaccine this year
We are marshalling America's scientific genius to produce a vaccine in RECORD TIME. Under Operation Warp Speed, we have three different vaccines in the final stage of trials right now, years ahead of what has been achieved before.
We are producing them in advance, so that hundreds of millions of doses will be quickly available. We will have a safe and effective vaccine this year, and together we will crush the virus.
Source: Speech at 2020 Republican National Convention
Aug 28, 2020
Mike Pence:
A nation of miracles: coronavirus vaccine by end of year
As we speak we're developing a growing number of treatments, including convalescent plasma that are saving lives all across the country. Last week, Joe Biden said "no miracle is coming." What Joe doesn't seem to understand is that America is a nation
of miracles and we're on track to have the world's first safe, effective coronavirus vaccine by the end of this year. After all the sacrifice in this year like no other -- all the hardship-- we are finding our way forward again.
Source: Speech at 2020 Republican National Convention
Aug 26, 2020
Joe Biden:
We can beat cancer: invest more money in research
BIDEN: We can beat cancer. The president allowed me to run the Cancer Moonshot. I visited virtually every major cancer research facility in the world. One of the things that came out of that was that there are a number of brilliant researchers and
clinicians, but they didn't talk to each other very much. They didn't share data very much. I truly believe we're going to invest considerably more money in research and NIH and make a major, major effort, because we can fundamentally change cancer.
Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention Biden/Harris Q&A
Aug 23, 2020
Joe Biden:
Coronavirus: Listen to science; step out of the way
Q: Do you blame President Trump for lives lost?BIDEN: I don't blame him for the COVID crisis. I blame him for walking away and not dealing with the solutions. Columbia University Medical School said if he had acted just one week earlier, he would
have saved over 37,000 lives, 37,000 fewer people would have not passed away. Two weeks earlier over 50,000 people. This is about telling the American people the truth, letting the scientists speak, listening to the science and stepping out of the way.
Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention David Muir Q&A
Aug 23, 2020
Kamala Harris:
COVID: track racial disparities; get vaccines to neediest
Q: Would you be prepared to shut this country down again [for the coronavirus pandemic]?BIDEN: I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus. That is the fundamental flaw
of this administration's thinking to begin with. In order to keep the country running and moving and the economy growing, and people employed, you have to fix the virus, you have to deal with the virus. I would shut it down, I would listen to the
scientists.
HARRIS: There are different needs based on different communities and that's why we talk about the need to track actually racial disparities -- disparities based on region, geographic region and do that now. So that when we have a vaccine,
those communities that are most in need, will get them. That policy and that approach will be guided by the public health experts, unlike what we have seen now which are the politics guiding a public health crisis.
Source: ABC This Week 2020 National Convention David Muir Q&A
Aug 23, 2020
Reform Party:
Strongly opposes a government-run entitlement program
Unlike 'Obamacare', our party strongly opposes a government run entitlement program. We recognize that our government needs to provide a suitable framework of industry regulations allowing for all Americans to receive adequate affordable
healthcare coverage. Our government must take a pro-active role in working side-by-side with the Insurance and health care industry to reshape its policies when offering coverage that is affordable and readily available to all.
Source: American Reform Party Positions (2020 Conventions)
Aug 22, 2020
Andrew Yang:
We must give country a chance to recover from coronavirus
[Excerpts of DNC speech]: "You might know me as the guy who ran for president talking about MATH and the future. Unfortunately for all of us, that future is now," Yang began his remarks, "The pandemic has accelerated everything."
"We despair that our government will ever rise to the challenges of our time. But we must give this country, our country, a chance to recover--and recovery is only possible with a change of leadership and new ideas," Yang continued.
Source: Politico.com on 2020 Democratic National Convention
Aug 21, 2020
Joe Biden:
Trump's looking for coronavirus miracle; no miracle coming
Biden said, "Just judge this president on the facts. Five million Americans infected by COVID-19. More than 170,000 Americans have died. By far the worst performance of any nation on earth." Biden said the president had been "looking for a miracle" when
he could have helped stem the tide of the virus. "The tragedy that we face today is that it didn't have to be this bad. The president keeps waiting around, looking for a miracle. Well, I have news for him: Mr. President, no miracle is coming."
Source: B.Shepherd on Yahoo.com: 2020 Democratic National Convention
Aug 21, 2020
Joe Biden:
I'll do what we should've done from beginning of coronavirus
We'll develop and deploy rapid tests with results available immediately. We'll make the medical supplies and protective equipment our country needs. We'll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe, and effective.
We'll take the muzzle off our experts so the public gets the information they need and deserve. We'll have a national mandate to wear a mask--not as a burden, but to protect each other. In short, I will do what we should have done from the very beginning
If this president is reelected we know what will happen. The assault on the Affordable Care Act will continue until it's destroyed, taking insurance away from more than 20 million people--including more than
15 million people on Medicaid--and getting rid of the protections that President Obama and I passed for people who suffer from a preexisting condition.
Source: Acceptance speech at 2020 Democratic National Convention
Aug 20, 2020
Socialist Party:
Support right to die/assisted suicide
We support the right to choose or refuse medical treatment,
the right to die, and the right to assisted suicide.
Source: Socialist Party Platform at 2020-2021 PSL Convention
Aug 3, 2020
Democratic Party:
Free coronavirus testing, treatment, & vaccines for everyone
We must start by making COVID-19 testing widely available and free to everyone. We must expand funding so state and local public health departments can hire sufficient staff to conduct contact tracing for everyone who tests positive for the novel
coronavirus. Democrats support making COVID-19 testing, treatment, & any eventual vaccines free to everyone, regardless of wealth, insurance coverage, or immigration status. We are all only as safe from this disease as are the most vulnerable among us.
Source: Democratic Party Platform adopted at 2020 Convention
Jul 27, 2020
Democratic Party:
Provide affordable public option through ACA
We will give all Americans the choice to select a high-quality, affordable public option through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The public option will provide at least one plan choice without deductibles;
and will cover all primary care without any co-payments and control costs just like Medicare. Everyone will be eligible to choose the public option or another Affordable Care Act marketplace plan.
Source: Democratic Party Platform adopted at 2020 Convention
Jul 27, 2020
Constitution Party:
Eliminate the Food and Drug Administration
The federal government has no Constitutional provision to regulate or restrict the freedom of the people to have access to medical care, supplies or treatments. We advocate, therefore, the elimination of the federal Food and Drug Administration, as
it has been the federal agency primarily responsible for prohibiting beneficial products, treatments and technologies here in the United States that are freely available in much of the rest of the civilized world.
Source: Constitution Party Platform at 2020 Convention
May 2, 2020
Page last updated: Sep 07, 2020