The Huckabee position on health care starts out by telling us that "[t]he health care system in this country is irrevocably broken" (emphasis my own). That seems like a peculiar statement. I mean, if it is irrevocably broken – no one can fix it. He then talks about his proposals to fix it. His reliance is on the private sector to bring down health care costs. "I advocate policies that will encourage the private sector to seek innovative ways to bring down costs and improve the free market for health care services."
I am evaluating at the plans and candidate positioning regarding five domains:
- Importation of Drugs – There is nothing specific on his Web site about the importation of drugs, but according to Web MD, he does not favor importation based on the issue of the risk associated with the safety of such drugs.
- Medicare Part D Reform – Again, there is nothing specific on his site, but again according to Web MD, he feels that his consumer-based approach to healthcare coverage will result in lower drug costs.
- Pharmaceutical Marketing Restrictions – Nothing found.
- Follow-on-Biologic Regulation – Nothing found.
- Generic Promotion – Again with no specificity in his plan, he has made statements that favor competition.
Analysis: There is nothing here to determine where the candidate stands on some specific issues with regard to the future of health care as it stands in these five domains. His plan is not as well thought out as others in this area. He may be rising in the polls in Iowa, where the Republican base may not be as concerned about health care as they are illegal immigration, but if he wants to move above the pack, as the election evolves, he may want to enunciate some more specific measures in his planning. He is very big on preventive measures to improve U.S. heathcare, but it is not clear how government would take a role in that.
