The Final Debate was Thursday, October 22, which means election day is even closer and a focus on the candidates’ policies and ideas are as primed as ever. A few highlights from the debate cover the important topics of Covid-19 and healthcare.

COVID-19…

President Donald Trump discussed at the debate the development of a vaccine for the Covid-19 virus, which he plans to mass distribute as quickly as possible. He further plans to safely continue to open the country, and he shared he is now healthy from the virus and feeling great.

Former Vice President Joe Biden said that his plan was to keep endorsing mask usage, invest in rapid testing and create national standards for reopening schools and businesses safely. He also said he will not shut the country back down.

Healthcare…

President Trump’s administration is advocating for the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act, often referenced to as ObamaCare. The President said that terminating the Individual Mandate, which required all United States Citizens to obtain a form of healthcare or pay a tax that increased to the greater of 695 dollars per person by 2016, improved ObamaCare but also said ObamaCare should still be overturned by the court. President Trump shared he tried to run ObamaCare as best he could but now he plans to terminate it. If the Supreme Court rules in favor of ObamaCare, he will continue to run it as best as he can. The President wants to create a much better healthcare system that always protects people with preexisting conditions, but he also wants to protect the private healthcare system that 180 million people still use.

Vice President Biden plans to build on ObamaCare, but if ObamaCare is ruled unconstitutional by the court, the Vice President plans to pass ObamaCare with a public option. This options says that if someone qualifies for medicaid but does not have the wherewithal, then he/she will automatically reroll, providing competition for private insurance companies and reducing premiums and drug prices through competition and allowing medicare to negotiate drug prices with private insurance companies while also restating his support for private insurance. This will guarantee that anyone using private insurance will be able to keep their insurance. He lastly shared he will protect pre existing conditions. Vice President Biden reassured that he is not making a move to socialized medicine, but he does think there needs to be a public option because healthcare is a right not a privilege and that everyone should have access to it at an affordable price.

Covid-19 and healthcare are only a sample of the policies that people need to look from when making their decision on who to vote for, but they are incredibly important factors in how our country will be run in the next four years. The most crucial thing a voter can do is pay attention to each presidential candidate’s ideas for the country and choose the candidate that they believe will help the country best. Not only is it crucial for voters to keep themselves informed but also to actually make their voices heard and go out and vote.

Image courtesy of Sarah Mirk.