WASHINGTON – The vice presidential candidates sparred over the nuts and bolts of health care policy in Tuesday’s debate, with Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) expanding on President Trump’s “planning concept” and Gov. Tim Walz (D) staunchly defended it. Affordable Care Act.
Of course, abortion is also a big topic, and former President Donald Trump used the opportunity to further soften his stance on abortion on social media as his two vice presidential candidates debated on stage in New York. And so.
Vice presidential debates draw fewer viewers than presidential contests, and most voters do not vote for a presidential candidate based on the vice presidential candidate. But it was the last debate scheduled for the race, which will be held a month after the last day of voting. What the vice presidential candidates said on health care Tuesday night could help define the politics of the rest of the campaign.
President Trump has been vague about his plans for the Affordable Care Act, which he has repeatedly called for repeal during his time in office. In a debate with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris last month, Trump avoided details and said he had a “vision of a plan.” Since then, Vance has argued that insurance companies should be allowed to cover sick people separately from healthy people. That drew attacks from Democrats, who argued that Vance’s plan would undermine the ACA’s guarantee that insurance companies cover people with pre-existing conditions.
Mr. Vance said his last remarks were about reinsurance, and Mr. Trump said he wanted to “allow states to experiment a little bit with how they cover both chronically ill and non-chronically ill people.” He said he supports it.
Walz responded that the plan described by Vance would allow insurance companies to attract healthy people into their plans while also setting prices for sick people.
“What Sen. Vance just described may be worse than just a concept,” Walz said. “Because what he described was before Obamacare.”
When the debate turned to the topic of abortion, President Trump joined in via social media site X. President Trump’s position on abortion was difficult to pin down. He said the six-week abortion ban was too restrictive, but later said: he will vote Opposes a Florida ballot measure that would extend abortion access beyond six weeks. He believes abortion policy should be left up to the states, but in a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, he declined to say whether he would veto a federal abortion ban.
That changed Tuesday night.
“Everyone knows that I don’t support a federal abortion ban under any circumstances, and in fact, I’m going to veto it because it’s up to the states to decide,” Trump said. was published in X.
Vance struck a more diplomatic tone during the vice presidential debate. He said Republicans need to regain voters’ trust on reproductive rights issues. He also denied supporting a national ban on abortion. he supported a national ban.
“As a Republican, I want to be pro-family in the fullest sense of the word,” Vance said. “I want to support infertility treatment. I want to make it easier for mothers to have babies.”
Drug pricing and mental health were also hot topics.
The Inflation Control Act included easy-to-understand drug benefits for seniors that were widely popular with voters of both parties.
And no Republicans voted for it.
But it was surprisingly difficult for Democrats to take credit for that accomplishment. Walz emphasized that Democrats were the first to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices. But Vance also argued that drug pricing won during Trump’s presidency. He said drug prices rose by only 1.5% under Trump, compared to 7% when Harris was vice president.
The issue of mental health grew out of questions about gun control policy. “I truly believe there is a mental health crisis in this country and we need to get to the root causes of it,” Vance said, adding that this is a “huge part” of gun violence. He also said crime was more serious in urban areas. . Walz said that in his state, firearm suicides are more common in rural areas. He also warned against stigmatizing mental health.
“Just because someone has mental health issues doesn’t mean they’re going to be violent,” he says. “We start looking for a scapegoat. Sometimes it’s just the gun.”
