Election 2004: Presidential candidates give plans for health care

AMNews asked: If elected (or re-elected), what would you do to help doctors with some of the obstacles they face in the practice of medicine?

BUSH: "Medical liability reform."
KERRY: "Access to care."

By Geri Aston, amednews staff. Oct. 18, 2004.

Responses from President George W. Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry (D, Mass.) are printed verbatim.

President Bush

"Our nation's physicians are highly skilled professionals whose compassion and dedication to saving lives help make our health care system the best in the world. However, too many are leaving the practice of medicine because of malpractice insurance costs.

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Topic: Liability crisis

"The health care system needs medical liability reform now. Frivolous and junk lawsuits are raising the cost of medicine and jeopardizing patient care. The results are skyrocketing liability insurance rates that burden physicians across the nation, forcing them to practice defensive medicine, limit care and, in many cases, stop practicing entirely.

"This crisis is raising costs for everyone, and it must be stopped. My plan for common-sense reform will reduce the number of frivolous lawsuits, lower health care costs for all Americans and help maintain the strong doctor-patient relationship that ensures high-quality care. My proposal ensures that injured persons are fully compensated for current and future economic losses, while reasonably limiting noneconomic damages to $250,000 and punitive damages to $250,000.

"We have also made a commitment to improve health information technology, because I believe it will reduce medical errors, save money and improve the quality of care. My fiscal year 2005 budget doubles funding to $100 million for demonstration projects to test the effectiveness of health IT and allow for widespread adoption in the health care industry. I established a goal that most Americans will have electronic health records within the next 10 years, which will improve the quality of care and reduce medical errors by allowing health care providers to share medical records securely when authorized by the patient."

Sen. Kerry

"Today, a great divide exists among Americans between those who are doing well and those who are struggling to make it from day to day. This divide erodes the professional independence and dedicated work of physicians and their patients who struggle to pay spiraling health care costs.

"My health care plan directly addresses the problems that interfere with accessibility and reliability of care. Under my plan, families' premiums will decrease by up to $1,000, and 95% of Americans will receive health care coverage, including all children. This will be done without government mandates and without new government bureaucracies.

"Part of ensuring that patients get the care they need includes making sure that doctors -- and not HMOs -- make medical decisions. I will push Congress to finally pass a real Patients' Bill of Rights, one that ensures Americans can hold HMOs accountable for decisions that harm patients by denying necessary medical care.

"I will restore medical integrity in research by ending the Bush administration practice of placing ideology over science. We should not allow the great potential of medical discovery to be held hostage by politics.

"Access to care is being threatened as more providers are leaving their practices due to ever-increasing malpractice insurance premiums. I will make the system fairer for doctors and patients alike by preventing and punishing frivolous lawsuits by bad-apple lawyers. And I will oppose punitive damages, except in cases of intentional misconduct or gross negligence.

"As president, I will build a stronger, healthier America -- one that respects doctors' Hippocratic oath to provide their patients with the best care available."