New Hampshire House, Iowa Senate Candidates Discuss Health Positions
New Hampshire U.S. House candidate Katrina Swett (D) said on Oct. 21 that if elected she would support legislation to extend CHIP program coverage to individuals up to the age of 24 and give a tax credit to the unemployed to help maintain their employer-funded health insurance after being laid off, the Nashua Telegraph reports. Swett said her plan to insure young adults under CHIP would cost $3 billion to $5 billion, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. The proposal to give low- and middle-income laid-off workers a 50% tax credit toward the cost of keeping health insurance would cost around $4 billion, Swett added. Sally Tibbetts, campaign spokesperson for Swett's opponent, Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.), said, "[T]he proposals supported by Swett would actually bankrupt Medicare and increase the cost of insurance, making health care less affordable" (Landrigan, Nashua Telegraph, 10/22).
Iowa Governor Proposes Rx Drug Plan for Seniors
In other election news, Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) -- who will face Republican Doug Gross in next month's election -- on Oct. 22 said his proposal to require drug companies to offer the same discounts to seniors as they give to Iowa Medicaid beneficiaries could reduce seniors' drug costs by 25%, the Omaha World-Herald reports. Vilsack contends the drug companies "owe [the discount] to Iowans because they receive preferential treatment with the $250 million Iowa spends on prescription drugs each year," the World-Herald reports. He added that the change is necessary because Canadian companies are now running ads in Iowa describing how individuals can buy less expensive Canadian drugs. "If I were a local pharmacist, that would really make me angry," Vilsack said (Clayton, Omaha World-Herald, 10/23).
