From a communications standpoint, this year’s Republican presidential campaign has been a bit blatant, ranging from chants of “fight, fight, fight” at rallies to a former WWE star who is now a Medicare recipient taking off his shirt at the convention. The campaign’s message has been clear from day one: “We want to be seen as strong.”
The problem? The Republican plan to fix things is pretty weak, and it would leave Virginians far worse off.
Take health insurance, for example. Voters Too expensiveFrom health insurance premiums to prescription drug prices at the pharmacy, Americans need relief from the high prices they are forced to pay for every attempt to stay healthy, and the choice in this election is clear.
Look at prescription drug prices. Eight in 10 Americans say the cost of prescription drugs is too high. Too expensive According to the nonprofit Freedom Virginia, drug prices in Virginia About one-third higher than the national average.
The Trump administration pushed through new rules to open up the U.S. to drug imports from countries that produce cheap medicines, such as Canada. As a result, DisappointedOther countries have been less keen to voluntarily share their drug supplies with U.S. consumers.
The Biden-Harris administration has taken a tougher stance. Not only has it capped insulin prices for Medicare enrollees at $35, just below the $50 price cap Virginia imposed in 2020, but it has gone a step further by giving Medicare the power to force pharmaceutical companies to the negotiating table. This is The first-ever public negotiation process Medicare pays for drugs to treat cancer, diabetes, heart failure, arthritis, etc. Over 193,000 Virginians Today’s Medicare initiative. The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 proposes doing away with the process altogether.
Even a simple visit to the doctor is becoming more expensive.
The Trump Administration targeted this problem through “price transparency,” figuring that if everyone could see the prices different hospitals and health systems were charging, the market would drive costs down. But in a health system as fragmented as ours, where prices vary depending on where you get care and which insurer pays for it, transparency alone doesn’t do much. According to the Congressional Budget Office, transparency Reduce costs to less than 1% Over the next 10 years.
The Biden-Harris administration has taken a more centrist stance, not hardening price caps for health care services but instead taking a hard look at how hospitals, health systems and private equity firms collude to drive up prices. President Joe Biden The “Public, Government-Wide Inquiry into Corporate Greed in Health Care” is intended to provide greater oversight of health care mergers and acquisitions before they increase costs and reduce quality of care. Such aggressive federal efforts are Protected many Virginia communities.
Perhaps the most important measure is how willing they are to use their power to protect those who need it most, and on this point the two presidential candidates are very far apart.
The Trump administration famously tried to cut health care costs for tens of millions of Americans by repealing Obamacare and cutting Medicaid. Under the Biden-Harris administration, more Americans than ever before have health insurance and, most importantly, Approximately 1.4 million children Since Biden took office, many children have signed up for health insurance, replacing those who lost it between 2016 and 2020. In Virginia, these efforts have led to a record high uninsured rate. The lowest level ever.
Virginians don’t need performative “toughness” from reality TV, pro wrestling, or online rants. Virginians need leaders who are strong enough to take on the corporate giants of our health care system and force them to put patients first.
Brian Chygrynski of Falls Church is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and a communications consultant who previously served as director of speechwriting for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
