Senator Vance’s positions on healthcare differ from GOP’s traditional views in which government meddling in the market is usually seen as a problem, not a solution.
Senator J.D. Vance’s positions on healthcare run counter to the Republican Party’s traditional views in which government meddling in the market is usually seen as a problem, not a solution. The vice presidential candidate has voiced support for several interventionist federal government policies. In key areas, Vance’s healthcare policy stance echoes former President Trump’s, which suggests subtle shifts may be underway within the GOP towards less of a purist free market ideology.
Former President Donald Trump tapped J.D. Vance as his running mate and vice presidential candidate this week.
In key areas, Vance and Trump are aligned on healthcare. Notably, Vance doesn’t believe a full-throated laissez-faire approach to healthcare will fix all problems in the system. He embraces an important role for government, as does Trump, which is consistent with the brand of economic populism favored by both men.
In an interview with AARP in 2022, Vance said he supports allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which is an important provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden in 2022. Conspicuously, in the run-up to the 2016 election, Trump advocated Medicare drug price negotiations during the campaign.
