ROGAN/SCHIFF: 27th District Candidates on Health Issues

Prior to the election, California Healthline is profiling the health care views of candidates in some of the state's key races. Today, CHL looks at the race for California's 27th Congressional District (Los Angeles County) between incumbent Rep. James Rogan (R) and state Sen. Adam Schiff (D).

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  Prescription drug coverage: Rogan supports the House plan to provide a prescription drug benefit through Medicare. Schiff also believes Medicare should extend its coverage to provide a prescription drug benefit, and advocates the Prescription Drug Fairness Act, "which would allow seniors to have access to the same prescription drug prices as HMOs."
  
• Medicare reform: Rogan co-sponsored legislation to eliminate the threat of Medicare bankruptcy, and "will continue working toward that goal by making Medicare solvency a top legislative and budget priority." Schiff believes government should draw from the budget surplus to "shore up" Medicare, and supports efforts to "root out waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system" (California Journal supplement, 10/00).
  
• Patients' bill of rights: Rogan has supported legislation "to outlaw gag rules that prevent doctors from fully disclosing treatment," and has voted to require HMOs to provide emergency care coverage and referrals to specialists for patients with conditions that require ongoing treatment. Schiff supports the bipartisan, House-passed Norwood-Dingell patients' bill of rights, and authored the California law that "guaranteed California's patients a speedy independent review of an HMO's decision to deny or delay medically necessary treatment."
  
• The uninsured: Rogan advocates a tax credit for self-employed individuals, supports efforts "to make affordable health insurance available to small business owners and employees through Association Health Plans," and has voted to implement medical savings accounts. Schiff supports tax incentives for small business to offer health insurance to employees, advocates tax credits for individuals who purchase their own insurance, and "would explore the flexibility of allowing Americans from ages 55-64 to purchase insurance through Medicare." Schiff also supports expanding the CHIP program to parents of eligible children (California Journal supplement, 10/00).