How the Democratic candidates compare on health care issues

How Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders compare on health care issues.

Single payer system

Clinton says she would expand coverage through the existing Affordable Care Act.

Sanders supported the Affordable Care Act but wants to go further. For years, he has championed single-payer, universal health care plan that includes an expansion of Medicare for all.

Vaccinations

Clinton has a long history of backing efforts to get children vaccinated. Most recently, she has referenced her granddaughter when pushing back on Republicans comments that suggested that children didn’t need to be vaccinated.

She tweeted:

The science is clear: The earth is round, the sky is blue, and #vaccineswork. Let’s protect all our kids. #GrandmothersKnowBest

Sanders said vaccinations are safe and effective and that not vaccinating children is dangerous.

Physician-assisted suicide

In 2008, Clinton said states should make decisions on physician-assisted suicide.

“I have a great deal of sympathy for people who are in difficult end-of-life situations,” she said. “I’ve gone to friends who have been in great pain and suffering at the end of their lives. I’ve never been personally confronted with it but I know it’s a terribly difficult decision that should never be forced upon anyone. So with appropriate safeguards and informed decision-making, I think it’s an appropriate right to have.”

More recently, though, she said she wanted to examine the issue more carefully. “It is a crucial issue that people deserve to understand from their own ethical, religious and faith-based perspectives,” she said in Ferbruary.

Sanders voted against a bill banning physician-assisted suicide in 1999. The bill would have banned the use of drugs for physician-assisted suicide promoted pain relief techniques.

“I think if a human being is in a situation where they are going to see their life end in a short period of time, where they are suffering, where they choose no longer to be alive,” Sanders said in February. “I think they have the right to make that decision for themselves.”

Abortion

Clinton supports abortion rights. She has been a bit confusing about restrictions. Politifact in February said, “Clinton is open to restrictions on late-term abortions provided there are exceptions for the life and health of the mother. This includes both mental health and medical complications like preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication of high blood pressure that could lead to death.

Sanders supports abortion rights without restriction.

Medical malpractice lawsuit caps

Clinton opposes limiting medical liability lawsuits to $250,000.

Sanders opposes limiting medical liability lawsuits to $250,000.

Importation of drugs from Canada

Clinton supports allowing Americans to import drugs for personal use from foreign nations whose safety standards are as stringent as those in the United States’ are. Regulatory agencies would be tasked with setting standards for re-importation.

Sanders supported a bill allowing for the importation of prescription drugs from various countries. In 2015, he introduced a bill that would allow individuals, pharmacists and wholesalers to import prescription drugs from licensed Canadian pharmacies.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 1:43 PM with the headline "How the Democratic candidates compare on health care issues."