The Democratic presidential candidate made several points that villainized health insurers.
Hillary Clinton has used one of her latest ads as a Democratic presidential candidate to focus on taking control over the rising expenses people are facing when buying prescription drugs and has put some blame on the health insurance industry.
The design of the ad clearly pointed to the insurance companies as participants in keeping the those expenses high.
The ad was first released over the weekend and appeared before Iowa and New Hampshire viewers. Within it, Clinton discussed her history of working on various issues in health care. She also promised that the insurance industry wouldn’t stand in her way of making prescription drugs more affordable to Americans. More specifically, she said that she would be “taking on insurance companies to bring down drug prices,” suggesting that she supports the popular belief that it is the insurers that are making those costs as high as they are for American families.
While this did place the blame on the insurance industry, Clinton has already focused on drug makers, too.
Clinton isn’t alone, as other presidential candidates have also been drawing attention to the role that drug makers play in the price of prescription drugs when they are purchased by consumers. Moreover many Democrats, including both Clinton and President Obama, have long blamed problems associated with the country’s healthcare system on insurance companies.
Despite the fact that the drug cost proposal put forward by Clinton does contain certain provisions that are focused on pharmaceutical companies – including one that would make it possible for Medicare to be able to enter into negotiations to obtain lower prices from those drug manufacturers – Clinton has also called for a monthly cap of $250 for drug expenses that are paid out-of-pocket. This is a type of coverage that would need to be offered by health insurance providers.
This new advertising by Clinton that looked to the insurance industry is only the most recent among many that have underscored her determination to reduce the price of prescription drugs. Another ad previously run by the presidential hopeful focused more directly on pharmaceutical companies, with a spotlight on Turing Pharmaceuticals, which was the firm that recently spiked the price of an anti-parasitic pill taken by AIDS patients, raising it from $13.50 per pill to a tremendously higher $750 each.
