KAY HAGAN vs. ELIZABETH DOLE: HEALTH CARE
While Elizabeth Dole has voted with President Bush 92% of the time, opposing affordable prescription drug prices and refusing to expand health care for children, Kay Hagan has diligently worked to make health care more affordable for North Carolina’s working families and businesses, including special measures for mental health and cancer research. Kay knows that North Carolinians are increasingly feeling the crunch of increased health care costs, and she is focused on reducing costs to increase affordable coverage and promote healthy policies.
Kay Worked To Expand Coverage And Make Health Care More Affordable For All
Kay Worked To Expand Coverage For Nearly 170,000 North Carolina Children. Kay voted in support of the 2008 budget that provides $9.4 million to expand NC Health Choice enrollment by 7,341 children to a total of 129,694 children. Kay also voted to support creating NC Kids’ Care to cover 38,000 uninsured children. [Vote 1584, 7/8/08;
Greensboro News & Record, 8/18/07]
Dole Opposed Making Health Care More Affordable For Seniors And Children
Dole Voted Against Funding For Medicare And Medicaid 11 Times, Amounting To Nearly $132 Billion.
[Vote 62, 3/16/06; Vote 363, 12/21/05; Boston Globe, 12/22/05; Vote 303, 11/3/05; Vote 114, 4/28/05; Vote 58, 3/17/05; Vote 39, 3/10/04; Vote 253, 6/26/03; Vote 158, 5/15/03; Vote 89, 3/25/03; Vote 21, 1/23/03; Vote 7, 1/7/03]
Kay Co-Sponsored Measure To Expand Coverage To 1.3 Million Uninsured. In 2006, Kay co-sponsored a bill which “required the Department of Health and Human Services to submit a report to the General Assembly outlining a plan to expand health care access for over 1.3 million uninsured North Carolinians.” [NC Department of Health and Human Services,
2007 Report, 4/26/07; Vote 1357, 7/6/06]
Dole Repeatedly Voted Against Helping Seniors Afford Prescription Drug Prices. In 2003, Dole voted for a Medicare prescription drug coverage gap, forcing enrollees to cover larger portions of costs out of pocket. Dole also voted against prescription drug importation in 2007, and she voted four times against allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. [Vote 297,
11/3/05; Vote 236, 6/24/03; Vote 150, 5/3/07; Vote 132, 4/18/07; Vote 50, 3/15/06; Vote 302, 11/3/05; Vote 60, 3/17/05]
Kay Pushed To Expand Health Care Options For Women. In 2003, Kay voted to mandate insurance coverage for surveillance tests for women age twenty-five and older as well as those at risk for ovarian cancer. In 2003, Kay cosponsored a bill to ensure the state's standard health plan would cover screening for the early detection of cervical cancer. [SB 887, Vote 647, 6/10/03, passed 49-0; Wilmington StarNews, 6/2/03; SB 388, Vote 553, 6/3/03, passed 44-0]
Dole Voted Six Times Against Expanding and Extending SCHIP In 2007. Dole voted six times against bipartisan legislation to extend and expand funding for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program in 2007. She said she opposed it because it was funded with a cigarette tax but she failed to suggest another funding mechanism.
[Vote 403, 11/1/07; Vote 402, 11/1/07; Vote 401, 10/31/07; Vote 353, 9/27/07; Vote 352, 9/27/07; Vote 307, 8/2/07; Financial Times.com, 8/2/07; DPC, 7/31/07; Raleigh News and Observer, 9/28/07]
Kay Voted For Electronic Medical Records, Lower Health Care Costs. In 2007, Kay voted for a bill that allowed pharmacists to file patients’ prescriptions in an electronic medical format to cut down on waste and costs. [Raleigh News & Observer, 4/10/08; Vote 739, 7/3/07] Kay Voted For Mental Health Parity. In 2007, Kay voted to require insurance coverage of certain mental illnesses and at least a minimum benefit package for other mental illnesses. This bill also prohibited health insurance companies from denying coverage for those with mental illnesses. The Charlotte Observer called this “a welcome step forward…good for all of North Carolina.” [Vote 734,
7/3/07; Charlotte Observer, 7/23/07]
Dole Voted Against Amendment To Prevent Severe Reduction In Payments To States For Medical Assistance. In November 2005, Dole voted against an amendment that would have prevented a severe reduction in the federal medical assistance for states for fiscal year 2006, and against extending rebates for prescription drugs to enrollees in Medicaid managed care organizations. [Vote
291, 11/3/05]
Dole Voted Twice Against Stem Cell Research. Dole voted twice against reversing Bush’s 2001 directive limiting federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, in 2007 and 2006. [Associated Press, 4/5/07, 7/19/06; Vote 127,
4/11/07; Vote 206, 7/18/06]
Kay Has Approved Over $300 Million For Cancer Research And Treatment. Kay has supported $301 million in funding for cancer research centers and treatment facilities through the University Cancer Research Fund and cancer treatment at UNC-Chapel Hill. [HB 2436, Vote 1584,
7/8/08, passed 32-14; HB 1473, Vote 1076, 7/30/07, passed 31-19; SB 622, vote 851, 8/11/05, passed 28-20]
Dole Wanted To Name AIDS Bill After Helms; “What Was Sen. Dole Thinking?” In response to Dole’s attempt to name the AIDS relief bill after Sen. Jesse Helms, the Charlotte Observer wrote, “What was Sen. Dole thinking? That was wrong for the country then, and it's wrong now to try and honor it.” [Charlotte Observer, 7/19/08]
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