How will Cheri Beasley inspire party’s base? Democratic nominee talks health care plans
Speaking to a group of Charlotte voters Thursday, Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Cheri Beasley received two questions from the crowd about Medicare for All.
Beasley, the former state Supreme Court chief justice, hasn’t signaled support for the progressive policy to create a single-payer, government-run health care program. Christian Cano, who hosts a political podcast in Charlotte and previously ran for Congress, said that worried him.
“How are you going to inspire (the Democratic base)?” he asked.
Medicare for All or otherwise, the issue of affordable health care could play a big role in the November general election, particularly as Medicaid expansion returns to the forefront in North Carolina. The state Senate passed an expansion bill last week that now heads to the state House. In Charlotte, Beasley made her case.
Beasley said, if elected, her primary directive on health care would be to expand the Affordable Care Act to create a public health insurance option. That plan could compete with private insurance companies while not creating as drastic a change as a single-payer system. In a single-payer format, every American would be covered under a single, government-run plan rather than getting private insurance through their employer or buying it on the marketplace.
The Democratic nominee said she would also work to cap insulin costs at $35 a month, lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies and fight to protect reproductive rights, including abortion and access to contraceptives.
Cano, though, said he worried Beasley might fail to drum up enough support to get Democrats to the polls in November by not supporting Medicare for All. Republican Sen. Richard Burr is retiring. Beasley and Republican Rep. Ted Budd, whose 13th District stretches across the Piedmont, are competing for his spot.
While Beasley said she hoped the crowd would fight for her on her own merits, the Democratic nominee said she also hopes “you’ll vote for me because my opponent is not good for North Carolina.”
“I know you understand the magnitude of this race. I know you understand what’s at stake,” she said.
Contrasting candidates
Budd, who is serving his third term in the U.S. House, says he’s pro-life and, in March, voted against a bill that would cap insulin prices at $35 a month. He’s also voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature health care legislation.
On his U.S. House page, Budd says Americans “should have access to the healthcare that works best for them. That means providing more choices, more pricing transparency, more competition, and more affordable health insurance plans. Obamacare utterly failed on these metrics.”
Budd’s senior advisor Jonathan Felts pointed to the bipartisan Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act, which Budd co-sponsored and gave the U.S. Department of Justice more freedom to enforce antitrust laws against health insurance companies. President Trump signed the bill into law in January 2021.
Beasley pointed to recent legislation, the Infant Formula Supplemental Appropriations Act, that aimed to address a baby formula shortage. The bill, which Budd voted against, would give $28 million to the Food and Drug Administration to “beef up inspections of formula made at foreign plants and to guard against any future shortages by ensuring the agency is prepared for supply chain disruptions,” according to an article published by The Hill.
Republicans argued the bill, while providing money to the FDA, would not address parents’ immediate problem of limited supply.
“Government price controls make for nice soundbites for Democrats, but, like most of the Biden Administration, they don’t accomplish what they say they will,” Felts said in an email.
Budd voted in favor of the Access to Baby Formula Act of 2022, which makes it easier for people in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children program to get formula during supply chain disruptions and other emergencies.
Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said health care is “perhaps the most complex policy issue there is.”
Both parties, Cooper said, signal they want lower costs for medication, more choices for people needing health care and more transparency within the industry. How candidates say they’ll get there differs.
“Most people don’t spend time contemplating the best health care system,” he said. “They just know the one we have isn’t it.”
Creating a public option
In Charlotte, Beasley pointed to her own experience.
Her twin sons, she said, had health problems from an early age. She haggled with insurance companies to get care they needed. While her efforts paid off, Beasley said she was successful largely because she was lucky enough to have health insurance.
As of 2018, more than 1 million North Carolinians under the age of 65 were uninsured, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
“It absolutely should not take luck” to get your children the health care they need, Beasley said.
Creating a public option, she said, is the most expedient and effective way to secure affordable insurance for every resident.
Some in the crowd agreed.
Shana Caldwell, who came from Indian Trial to see Beasley speak, said she supported creating a public option over a single-payer system. She added taking too progressive of a stance might turn off some Democrats and that other issues, including abortion rights, will probably take precedence for most voters.
Cooper said the debate between a public option and a single-payer system may have been a key issue if Beasley had a more competitive primary. It’s conceivable some progressives would not vote or choose a third-party candidate in November, but it’s unlikely to make much of a dent, he said.
The differences between Beasley and Budd could be a major factor in the November election, though. With the N.C. Senate passing a Medicaid expansion bill this week, access to affordable health care could be top-of-mind for many voters.
“I think those signals will carry over to the U.S. Senate race,” Cooper said. “It’s in the political air.”
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
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