New Orleans Times-Picayune Examines Health Care Stances of Louisiana U.S. Senate Candidates
The New Orleans Times-Picayune on Oct. 6 examined the health care positions of the candidates running against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) this November in Louisiana's multicandidate Senate election. The following outlines Landrieu's position and those of her Republican challengers.
- Landrieu: Landrieu supports expanding patients' rights to sue their HMOs. Last year, she supported a Democratic-backed bill that would have capped punitive damages at $5 million. Landrieu also supports efforts to "shore up" financially strapped Medicaid programs, and voted for a $9 billion Medicaid bailout bill passed by the Senate this summer. Landrieu has "embraced an approach popular among some Republicans" that would allow states to provide subsidies to low-income residents to purchase private health coverage, and she has said she would favor using refundable tax credits to help some uninsured residents purchase insurance coverage. She also supports using the private sector to provide Medicare beneficiaries with prescription drug coverage. Landrieu voted for a bill (S 812) that would increase access to generic drugs and allow wholesalers to reimport prescription drugs from Canada.
- Rep. John Cooksey (R): Cooksey said he supports the Democratic-backed patients' rights bill, but he would amend the measure to limit lawsuits by encouraging the use of independent review panels to settle disputes. Cooksey opposes the Medicaid bailout bill. Regarding Medicare, Cooksey does not favor adding a drug benefit to the program but supports using tax credits to help seniors purchase private insurance. He advocates a similar approach to increasing coverage rates among the uninsured. Cooksey said he supports increasing access to generic drugs and allowing wholesalers to reimport prescription drugs from Canada.
- State Rep. Tony Perkins (R): In the state Legislature, Perkins has supported restrictions on civil lawsuits against HMOs and has said that "caps on punitive damages are a must," the Times-Picayune reports. Perkins does not support a federal bailout of Medicaid, saying that budget requirements "should be honored." Like Cooksey, Perkins favors using tax credits to help seniors purchase coverage that includes prescription drugs. Perkins also supports using tax credits to expand health insurance to low-income residents. Like Landrieu and Cooksey, Perkins supports legislation to increase access to generic drugs and to allow drug reimportation.
- Elections Commissioner Suzanne Haik Terrell (R): Terrell favors limiting patients' rights to sue HMOs to keep litigation from driving up the cost of health care. Terrell does not support additional federal funding for Medicaid, saying the program is a "bureaucratic nightmare." She favors using subsidies to help low-income people purchase insurance. Terrell supports using tax credits to help seniors obtain drug coverage and the uninsured to purchase drug benefits. Terrell favors legislation to increase access to generic drugs, but she opposes drug reimportation "because the U.S. government cannot ensure the medicine's purity and effectiveness" (Walsh, New Orleans Times-Picayne, 10/6).
