This blog is part of a series that focuses on the candidates who are running for President of the United States in the 2016 election. This blog focuses on Jeb Bush.
Jeb Bush was the 41st Governor of Florida. He held that office from 1999 to 2007. He is the son of former President George H. W. Bush (who was the 41st President of the United States) and the brother of George W. Bush (who was the 43rd President of the United States). Jeb Bush is a Republican.
Health Care
According to his official website, Jeb Bush “will work with Congress to repeal and replace” Obamacare. He wants to “empower states to implement local, accountable solutions that work for their citizens”. He also wants employers to offer more health insurance choices at lower costs to their employees.
In 2006, while Jeb Bush was Governor of Florida, he replaced the state’s Medicaid program with a pilot program called “empowered care”. According to BloombergView, the program ranked below the national Medicaid average on 21 of the 32 quality indicators. Two-thirds of diabetics weren’t getting adequate treatment under the plan.
According to Jeb Bush’s official website, he has said: “We need to protect Medicare for people that have it and need to make sure that we reform it for people that are expecting it.” The only thing clear about his plan for Medicare is that he wants it to be “fiscally conservative”.
Women’s Health Care
BloombergView notes the following about Jeb Bush’s “empowered care” plan: almost one-third of pregnant women got no care within their first trimester, and just 1 in 2 women had a postpartum visit between three and eight months after giving birth. Those figures put Florida in the bottom 25 percent of Medicaid ratings nationwide.
Jeb Bush has also made it clear that he wants to defund Planned Parenthood. He wants to distribute that funding to “other women’s health care organizations”, but has not specifically stated which ones.
Immigration
On his official website, Jeb Bush wants to create a “forward-leaning” Border Patrol that takes action before crimes are committed. He also wants to use technology “such a drones, advanced sensors, and radar” for continued surveillance.
Jobs
Jeb Bush wants to require electronic verifications of employment eligibility. This is to ensure that American businesses are not hiring “illegal immigrants”. One of his campaign goals is “four percent growth, 19 million new jobs”. There are no specific details about this plan.
Education
Several articles on his official website say that Jeb Bush is in favor of charter schools, and strongly against teacher’s unions. The LA Times reports that Jeb Bush has “embraced” Common Core.
Image by John Pemble on Flickr.
Related Articles at Families.com:
* Florida Health Choices and the Affordable Care Act
* Will Core Curriculum Standards Affect Homeschooling?