Last month, we asked our readers what issues they wanted to hear the candidates running for office address ahead of this summer’s primary elections. Based on the input we received, we developed a five-item questionnaire for Republican candidates running for the United States Senate seat.

We’ll be publishing the candidates’ responses to one item per day each day this week. Today we’re publishing the candidates’ responses item five:

What type of health insurance policy should the federal government be following? Do you favor full repeal of the ACA? If so, what would you replace it with?

Lance Berland

The government’s involvement in most things leads to disaster, theft, and inefficiency. The ACA should be repealed and replaced with a transparent free-market system of healthcare insurance that gives the people more options and not less, with no public mandates. The American people are to be protected from greedy companies, not forced to acquiesce their rights and free will.

David Lindstrom

Obamacare was a failure because its primary goal was consolidation of power and control in government to facilitate political agendas, rather than the actual delivery of quality, affordable health care personalized to needs of individual consumers. I will work to reform our health care system to empower consumers and caring health providers to strive toward the best health care outcomes by the most affordable means.

Roger Marshall

Look, both Democrats and Republicans want to replace the ACA. The Democrats want to replace it with “Medicare for All”, which really means less healthcare for seniors, eliminates your employer provided benefits, and uses federal funds for abortion. We can’t allow this socialist takeover of healthcare to happen in the United States. Control of the Senate will run through Kansas. We must nominate someone who can win the general election.

I was appointed chairman of the RSC Health Task Force which has been asked by President Trump to write the Republicans’ replacement of the ACA. Healthcare needs to be more transparent, and we must encourage innovation.  As a physician, of course I want to protect people with preexisting conditions. At the same time, we have to provide quality healthcare at a reasonable price. We’ll accomplish both of these goals by empowering patients, promoting competition, and providing consumers with more choice.

Finally, we must protect the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. We can’t allow the government to ration your care or choose your physician for you. We must repeal and replace the ACA, and stop the Democrats from regaining control of the senate or we will have socialized healthcare.

Brian Matlock

The ACA provides some important provision like ending discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. However, it fails to produce cost-efficiency and positive health outcomes. The ACA dumps billions into private insurance middlemen and does nothing to take on big pharma. I favor repealing the ACA in favor of Medicare for All. The things people want- competition, efficiency, transparency, quality of care, and affordability are better achieved through Medicare for All than through private insurance.

Medicare for All would allow competition between providers based on quality of care, not based on what deals they made with private insurance. There would be straightforward transparent pricing, along with guaranteed and efficient payments to providers. We would have peace of mind knowing all providers are covered- including traveling out of state. We would have peace of mind knowing that in the most tragic and difficult times of our lives we won’t have to be sorting through piles of conflicting bills from different providers and insurance, and contesting claims that are arbitrarily rejected by insurance.

Private insurance puts a burden on businesses who must provide insurance. This gives corporations an advantage with large employee pools to get better rates. We get the best rate by having the largest insured pool of all- the population of the United States. Medicare for all gives the freedom to do things like get a degree or be an entrepreneur and still know you are covered.

We spend an average of $80-100K dollars per healthcare provider in the US on billing, insurance, and collections—much of that could be eliminated for a huge savings off the top. Nearly 100 studies of Medicare for all and almost all find that M4A will give more care at a lower cost.

We have heard politicians talking about reducing costs for decades while costs rise, and as of yet they still do not have any concrete plan, and certainly not one as studied and vetted as Medicare for All. We need a senator who is going to take on big pharma and the insurance companies to stop the price gouging of Americans so we can have a healthier, happier nation.

John Berman

Did not respond.

Derek Ellis

Did not respond.

Bob Hamilton

Did not respond.

Kris Kobach

Did not respond.

John Miller

Did not respond.

Steve Roberts

Did not respond.

Gabriel Mark Robles

Did not respond.