{"id":2252,"date":"2024-01-11T21:51:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:51:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2252"},"modified":"2024-01-11T21:51:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T21:51:57","slug":"in-a-fractious-rerun-gop-rivals-haley-and-desantis-debate-health-care-trump-sits-it-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthynewsusa.com\/?p=2252","title":{"rendered":"In a Fractious Rerun, GOP Rivals Haley and DeSantis Debate Health Care. Trump Sits It Out."},"content":{"rendered":"
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The race to win the quickly approaching Iowa caucuses was the theme running through Wednesday night\u2019s Republican presidential debate hosted by CNN at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Front-runner Donald Trump was again absent and only two other candidates made the cut: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.<\/p>\n

DeSantis and Haley fired a frenzy of attacks at each other\u2019s records and positions. The faceoff was moderated by CNN \u201cState of the Union\u201d co-anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.<\/p>\n

Our PolitiFact partners<\/a> fact-checked the debate in real time. You can read the full coverage here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The two candidates touched on a variety of health care topics. As in previous debates, they each questioned the other\u2019s anti-abortion bona fides and reaffirmed their own. They sparred over covid-19 policies as well as whether to push China out of the U.S. supply chain for pharmaceuticals and other health-related products.<\/p>\n

Asked whether, as president, they would preserve the Affordable Care Act\u2019s Medicaid expansion, both said \u2014 after being pressed for clarification \u2014 they would like to convert the program to a block grant. That\u2019s generally understood to be an approach<\/a> in which federal funding is capped but state flexibility is increased.<\/p>\n

Forty states and the District of Columbia<\/a>, but not South Carolina or Florida, have expanded Medicaid under the ACA, which is credited with providing insurance coverage to millions more Americans.<\/p>\n

Block-granting Medicaid isn\u2019t a new idea<\/a>. The approach has long been favored by Republicans<\/a> and was advanced by the Trump administration. It\u2019s strongly opposed by Democrats.<\/p>\n

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In terms of health care policy, Haley again promised to add transparency to the U.S. system, emphasize competition, and put patients \u201cin the driver\u2019s seat.\u201d She also promised tort reform.<\/p>\n

DeSantis argued for \u201chealth care that\u2019s accessible, that\u2019s affordable, and that\u2019s accountable, and particularly an emphasis on mental health.\u201d He also pointed to his Florida experience. \u201cWe got accountability<\/a> for the pharmacy benefit middlemen that are causing your drug prices to go up,\u201d he said, and claimed another victory in the war on high drug costs.<\/p>\n

The FDA last week approved<\/a> Florida\u2019s plan to import certain medicines from Canada for some state agencies. But the plan faces hurdles, including Canada\u2019s government, which has warned it won\u2019t allow U.S. imports if they risk causing drug shortages for Canadians.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, primary front-runner Trump again declined an invitation to debate. He instead participated in a Fox News town hall, also in Des Moines.<\/p>\n

He claimed responsibility for the Supreme Court\u2019s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade<\/em>: \u201cI did it. And I am proud to have done it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But in response to a voter who sought assurances he would ban abortion nationwide if he won another presidential term, Trump acknowledged the politics of the issue. He told the voters \u201cyou still have to win elections\u201d and that \u201ca lot\u201d of Republicans have been \u201cdecimated\u201d as a result of advocating strict abortion bans. He carefully avoided saying what kind of ban, precisely, he would propose if he made it back to the White House.<\/p>\n

Trump also revisited some of his favorite controversial covid-related themes. He minimized the role played by Anthony Fauci, who directed the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and was a pandemic medical adviser in Trump\u2019s administration. Trump called Fauci, who has been a lightning rod among Republican voters, \u201cnot a huge factor\u201d in his pandemic policies but said the scientist took on outsize prominence in the Biden White House.<\/p>\n

Trump waded into controversy about the virus\u2019s origins, outlining his own theory on how it spread from China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt came out of Wuhan, the labs,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it was done out of incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe that a scientist went out, said hello to his girlfriend, and that was the end of that. She died, and then people started dying all over the place. But who knows, who knows?\u201d (PolitiFact examined that claim and others<\/a> from Wednesday night\u2019s town hall event.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy did not qualify to participate in the CNN forum. Candidates needed at least 10% support among respondents in three CNN-approved national or Iowa polls to make the debate stage,<\/a> including one poll of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced<\/a> on the day of the debate that he was dropping out of the race.<\/p>\n

What follows are health care-related fact checks excerpted from PolitiFact\u2019s coverage:<\/p>\n

Life Expectancy and Social Security<\/strong><\/p>\n

DeSantis and Haley sparred over whether to raise the Social Security retirement age.<\/p>\n

Haley said life expectancy is longer today, so the age to start collecting Social Security and Medicare benefits, currently 65, should be raised. She said people in or near retirement should be protected from any retirement age increase, while people in their 20s should be told that \u201cwe\u2019re going to change the retirement age to reflect life expectancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSantis said he wouldn\u2019t raise the retirement age, citing an erosion in life expectancy over the past few years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem now, in the last five years, is life expectancy is going down,\u201d DeSantis said<\/a>. \u201cSo, I don\u2019t see how you can raise the retirement age when our life expectancy is collapsing in this country.\u201d PolitiFact readers asked whether U.S. life expectancy is decreasing. We found that both candidates can point to data<\/a> that supports their position.<\/p>\n

During his town hall, Trump criticized both Haley and DeSantis over their stances on the retirement age, saying they both favor raising the age of Medicare eligibility above 65.<\/p>\n

Gender-Affirming Care<\/strong><\/p>\n

DeSantis:<\/strong> On gender-affirming surgery for minors, \u201c[Haley] said she\u2019s against [it]. That wasn\u2019t what she said this summer. She was asked about it. It\u2019s on video, and she said the law should stay out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSantis is partially correct. Haley has said \u201cthe law should stay out of it,\u201d but has also strongly opposed gender-affirming care for minors.<\/p>\n

In a June CBS interview<\/a>, Haley said when determining what care should be available for transgender youth, the \u201claw should stay out of it, and I think parents should handle it.\u201d She followed up by saying, \u201cWhen that child becomes 18, if they want to make more of a permanent change, they can do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Haley\u2019s campaign pointed to a May ABC News appearance during which she said<\/a> that a minor shouldn\u2019t be allowed to have a \u201cgender-changing procedure\u201d and opposed \u201ctaxpayer dollars\u201d funding one.<\/p>\n

In Wednesday\u2019s CNN debate, Haley reiterated, \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have any gender transitions before the age of 18.\u201d<\/p>\n