From the Bill Foster Campaign:
The Choice is Clear: Foster wants to take on insurance companies to cut health care costs; Oberweis wants to eliminate employers paying for health care, forcing 7.5 million Illinoisans to fend for themselves
(Geneva, IL) - Illinois Senator Dick Durbin today joined Democratic congressional candidate Bill Foster to discuss cutting costs for health care at the Dreyer Medical Clinic in Aurora.
Foster also took aim at Republican Jim Oberweis’ position on health care. According to his own website, Oberweis wants to eliminate employer-based health insurance, forcing millions of Americans to buy their own insurance and fend for themselves against the big insurance companies.
“With the economy at the brink of recession, people are concerned with how they’ll afford health insurance if they lose their job,” Foster said. “In 2006, the cost of health insurance increased by 6.9 percent, with the average family paying nearly $12,000 for insurance. It’s clear that our health care system needs to change. I’ll take on the big drug and insurance companies and fight to cut costs for health insurance.
“My opponent disagrees, and believes that employer-based health insurance should be eliminated. Under the Oberweis plan, over 7.5 million Illinois residents who get their health insurance coverage from their employer would lose it. This approach is wrong.”
Foster Supports:
1. Allowing Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for seniors.
2. Discouraging drug companies from wasting money on advertising.
3. Decreasing duplicative paperwork that costs time and money by computerizing records.
4. Investing in preventative care to keep health insurance costs down.
Oberweis Supported Eliminating Employer-Based Health Insurance. According to his campaign website in 2008, Jim Oberweis supported the elimination of employer-based health insurance, saying “a fundamental element of health care reform must be to move away from the ‘third-party system.’” Oberweis described the third-party system as a system “[under] which most Americans get their health insurance through their employer.” [http://www.jimoberweis.com/issues, accessed 2/20/08]
Employer-Based Health Insurance Covers Over 158 Million Americans, nearly 7.5 Million People in Illinois. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, employer-based heath insurance plans provide coverage for over 158 million Americans, including nearly 7.5 million Illinois residents. [Kaiser Family Foundation, http://www.statehealthfacts.org]
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