Scott Public Relations is providing summaries of the democratic and republican presidential candidates’ positions on healthcare reform to raise awareness of the prevailing public policy positions.  As part of this initiative, we are pleased to share a two-part series that summarizes the two major presidential candidates’ positions on healthcare. Ultimately, we all want quality access to quality care, with the latest technological innovations providing NextGen testing, treatments and communications. Our aim is to provide you with information to help you participate in the ongoing national healthcare dialogue.

Hillary Clinton is no stranger to the issue of healthcare reform. As first lady in former President Bill Clinton’s administration, she played an important role in the efforts to transform healthcare delivery during the 1990s.

Now more than twenty years later, the issue is increasingly top-of-mind for the nation. The passage of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the rise of digital technology, as well as an increased consumer appetite for fitness and healthcare topics ensure that healthcare will be a key and critical issue for the next president. In the event of Hillary Clinton’s victory in November, what does she have planned for her administration?

Mrs. Clinton has expressed her support for the ACA, President Obama’s signature legislation. Her healthcare reform plan embraces the existing law as passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010. She seeks to build upon the administration’s current healthcare policies to ultimately create universal health coverage for all Americans.  Mrs. Clinton hopes to provide tax credits to families purchasing insurance on the ACA exchanges to create affordable premiums and decrease out-of-pocket expenses. She also plans to support incentives for states to expand Medicaid and to invest in outreach and educational programs to make it easier for eligible people to sign up for Medicaid.

Additional priorities include lowering copayments and deductibles and reducing prescription drug costs.  Mrs. Clinton’s healthcare proposals also include expanding access to ACA exchanges to families of all immigration statuses, and to continue working towards making a public option a key component of the healthcare delivery system.

A Hillary Clinton presidency would actively engage both houses of Congress for advice and consent on new healthcare legislation, and we can expect vigorous debate among healthcare stakeholders and elected officials on both sides of the aisle to fuel the national conversation.  The ACA has already been faced with many attempts from the Republican Congress to overturn and repeal it. With much of Mrs. Clinton’s plan for improving American healthcare rooted in expanding Obama’s efforts, only time will tell, post-election, how healthcare policy will evolve in the nation.

To learn more about Hillary Clinton’s healthcare pledge, visit her website: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/health-care/.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with a PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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