Where the Candidates Stand on Cancer

November 2, 2016
presidential candidates

With Election Day coming in less than a week, we’re taking the opportunity here at the Cancer Support Community to highlight where the presidential candidates stand on the cancer and health issues that matter to us. This is not meant to imply an endorsement or preference for any candidate but instead is an inexhaustive compilation of the candidates’ own words and actions on a topic which affects all Americans. We hope this stimulates discussion about the bipartisan goal of improving cancer and health care policies nationally as well as at the local level.

ON THE CANCER MOONSHOT INITIATIVE

Democrat Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State, Senator):

– “Congress should fulfill the administration’s request for moonshot funding next year."

– “If I’m elected president this fall, I’m going to ask Joe (Biden) to continue the important work he’s begun and help us fight and defeat cancer.”

Republican Donald J. Trump (businessman):

– The Trump campaign did not respond to requests to comment on the Cancer Moonshot Initiative from USA Today and Bloomberg.

Libertarian Gary Johnson (former Governor of New Mexico):

– No stated position on the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.

ON CANCER RESEARCH FUNDING AND THE NIH

Democrat Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State, Senator):

– “I would increase funding for scientific research at agencies like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation.”

– “As president, I will make bold new investments in the National Institutes of Health, including the National Cancer Institute, that are not only significant in size but are predictable year-after-year, providing greater certainty for principal investigators and greater opportunity for aspiring physicians and scientists who are  starting out as investigators.”

Republican Donald J. Trump (businessman):

– “I hear so much about the NIH, and it’s terrible.”

– The Trump campaign did not respond to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s question on NIH funding.

Libertarian Gary Johnson (former Governor of New Mexico):

– “Funding will rise and fall on the merits and on an honest assessment of effectiveness... NIH and the National Cancer Institute do important and worthwhile work, but will not be immune from an effort to work better and smarter.”

ON CANCER

Democrat Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State, Senator):

– Co-sponsored the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act while in the Senate.

– When asked to endorse the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s ‘Breast Cancer Deadline 2020’:                                                                               

“Yes. I endorse bold ideas in research and science to go after diseases, and breast cancer is one I feel passionately about.”

 

Republican Donald J. Trump (businessman):

– Has helped raise money for Susan G. Komen, the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

– Has not endorsed the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s “Breast Cancer Deadline 2020.”

– The Trump campaign did not respond to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s question on fighting cancer as president.

Libertarian Gary Johnson (former Governor of New Mexico):

– “Government should remove, not create, obstacles to the relationships among researchers, innovators, doctors and patients that will produce rapid advances in treatment.”

– In response to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s question on how to lead the fight against cancer:

 “As President, I would try to lead by example and use the megaphone of the office to help Americans see the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, diet, etc.”

ON HEALTH

Democrat Hillary Clinton (former Secretary of State, Senator):

– “I think that the whole idea of universal health care is such a core Democratic principle that I am willing to go to the mat for it.”

– “So if you're having Medicare for all, single-payer, you need to level with people about what they will have at the end of the process you are proposing. And based on every analysis that I can find by people who are sympathetic to the goal, the numbers don't add up, and many people will actually be worse off than they are right now."

Republican Donald J. Trump (businessman):

– Would “completely repeal Obamacare. Our elected representatives must eliminate the individual mandate.”

– Would “block-grant Medicaid to the states.”

Libertarian Gary Johnson (former Governor of New Mexico):

– “When it comes to Medicaid and Medicare, these services need to devolve to the states.”

– “In a free-market approach to health care, we would have insurance to cover ourselves for catastrophic injury and illness, and we would pay as you go in a system that I'm going to guess would cost about 1/5 of what it costs right now. It would be cash and carry. It would be ‘Stitches R Us’, it would be ‘Gallbladders R Us’, ‘X-rays R Us’. It would be advertised pricing. It would be advertised outcomes.”

Green Party Candidate Jill Stein (physician):

– Would “establish an improved ‘Medicare for All’ single-payer public health program to provide everyone with quality health care.”

– Would “eliminate the cancer of health insurance, which adds costs while reducing access to health care.”

– Would “prioritize preventive health care, including physical activity, healthy nutrition and pollution prevention.”