Health and the Election (broadcast Friday, September 5th, 2008)

By Friday, the conventions of the major political parties will be over and the candidates for the November election on both the Republican and Democratic tickets will be officially selected. In this segment, we'll take a look at the stance of Senators McCain and Obama on various health policy issues. Recently, a health research advocacy group, Research!America, sent a questionnaire to both campaigns asking for policy details on issues such as health care coverage, stem cell research, the Medicare prescription drug benefit, and funding for NIH, FDA, and CDC. (See the candidates' responses at http://www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org.) We'll talk with the president of Research!America about the issues presented in the questionnaire and the candidates' responses. Teachers, find more information about using Science Friday as a classroom resource in the Kids' Connection.