crossposted at American Patients United
The Wall Street Journal has published an analysis of The Palin record, and on health care reform, it is incredibly weak.
Gov. Palin didn't make health care one of her top priorities, but where she did take a strong stand on health, it was for the free market. "Health care must be market- and business-driven, rather than restricted by government," her office said in a January statement.
Her overall approach is much like Sen. McCain's -- loosen government regulations to allow for greater competition, along with more information for patients to make good choices.
Recent estimates from 2006 show that over 70,000 Alaskan residents between the ages of 25 and 64 lacked health insurance, and the toll for this was 400 preventable deaths between 2000-2006.
The article also looks at her record on children's health care and it's not much better
Addressing the uninsured was less of an issue for Gov. Palin, much as it is less significant for Sen. McCain. She was reluctant to support a significant expansion of the state's version of the Children's Health Insurance Program, called Denali KidCare. She signed a bill that raised eligibility to allow families with incomes up to 175% of the poverty level -- stingy compared with other states.
McCain/Palin- more of the same slow death by spreadsheet. The free market doesn't work, and is now approaching a pricing death spiral where the insurance industry can no longer produce a product that average citizens can afford to purchase. They raise prices and more people can't afford it, so to maintain profits they must raise prices again and the cycle continues. We need single payer now.