Hillary Clinton Talks To The Tom Joyner Morning Show

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Hillary Rodham Clinton wants to be the next President of the United States and she wants Black voters to know that if they support her, she will return that support when she’s in the nation’s highest office. To that end, she talks to the Tom Joyner Morning Show for an unprecedented conversation with news correspondents Jacque Reid and Roland Martin along with Don Lemon.

On HBCUs:

“I was on the campus of Philander Smith College in Little Rock and I was talking to the new president there because I know, as you all do, how important HBCUs are in our higher education system. They have closed the opportunity gap and have been in the frontline of producing leaders. In my New College Compact, we’re going to support, encourage and reward HBCU’s that help our student succeed so that students can’t complete college without cost being a barrier or debt holding them back. I believe that for my We’re going to have new federal funds to investing in the public HBCU’s  provide support and that the Pell Grant can be used for living expenses, and for the private HBCU’s, we’re going to have a dedicated $25 billion dollar fund to provide support to them. I, like you, admire and respect the role that HBCU’s play. I have a lot of friends and former and present colleagues that are products of HBCU’s, and we’re going to help kids get into school and stay in school and cut interest rates on the loans that students take out.”

On helping provide capital to small Black businesses:

“I’ve said all over the country that I want to be the small business President and I particularly want to be the small business president for women and minority-owned businesses. For a variety of reasons, a lot of it related to the financial crisis, we have not been able to keep up with the pent-up demand. Particularly for African-American women, that’s true. I know from traveling around the country, they can’t get access to capital, they can’t get access to the the mentoring and support they need to go to the next stage.

So here’s what I want to do. I want to make the Small Business Association once again a really aggressive and vigorous agency, reaching out to people not just waiting for someone come to them. I want to do more networking so literally we have a network of people  available 24-7 to counsel and support and then send on their way people with good ideas. I had and African-American woman say to me once that more good ideas die on in the parking lots of banks than anywhere in America. What we’ve got to do is reverse that. There’s a lot of programs already in place but they’re not being given the emphasis, the funding, and the support that they need. Most new jobs in America are started by small businesses.”

On rumors that Hillary Clinton started the ‘birther’ (that alleges that President Obama is not a ‘natural-born American’) and once had a confrontation with Senator-elect Obama about it.

That is so ludicrous. It’s totally untrue and the President and I have never had any kind of confrontation like that. This is such a bad example of what’s wrong with instantaneous reactions and Americans getting all worked up and people feeding prejudice and paranoia like Donald Trump. Obviously, we have to stand against it. I have been blamed for nearly everything, but that was a new one.

On Planned Parenthood:

“Planned Parenthood has been taking care of women for years. What I really resent is that when these people go after Planned Parenthood they are saying, in essence, they want to deprive women cancer screenings, HIV testing, getting help with family planning and contraceptives. It is a mean-spirited, partisan attack on a place that has been there for women, often the only place that young women, that lower-income women are able to go and get treated with respect and get the kind of health care they deserve. What you see is the ongoing debate about abortion. Everyone can have their own opinion about that. It is legal.

And in those facilities, which are a minority of the facilities of Planned Parenthood, where abortion is provided, and not using one federal dollar is used to do it, the Republicans want to basically destroy the entire program that Planned Parenthood stands for. I am adamantly opposed to that. I’m going to be fighting that. 500,000 breast cancer screenings every year [are done at Planned Parenthood]. When Jeb Bush says we don’t need  $500 million in the federal budget for Planned Parenthood, I don’t know who they are talking to. They’re not talking to the women that grab my hand in the rope line or stop me on the street to tell me that that’s where they found out they had breast cancer or got the family planning support they needed.

On Social Justice: 

I’m really honored to have Andy Young’s support. He’s somebody I’ve known for a long time. He said something to me a long time ago that I never forgot. Back in the late 50’s when the South was roiled by civil rights challenges and conflicts and places that were trying to change and some resisting change, he said Atlanta adopted the slogan ‘The City Too Busy To Hate’ and I wish we’d get back to saying ‘America Is Too Busy To Hate’ and back to working together and  having each other’s backs and that goes for criminal justice reform and mass incarceration and getting rid of the privatization of prisons that have turned incarceration into a for-profit industry.

We ought to be looking at what we are going to do with social justice by admitting and taking on the systemic racism that we still face in this country. Just look at how President Obama has led us through some difficult times and faced unrelenting opposition and obstruction and in this campaign, we’re seeing a lot of those same voices and forces trying to turn the clock back. I hope we can come together around reforming criminal justice and not just reforming the inequities that unfortunately persist but in trying to close the opportunity gap and help young people, particularly young men, to have different choices because they have different opportunities. I want folks to know they can count on me to address this and count on me to work hard with the communities that are really focused on this to make a difference.

Clinton shares two initiatives of particular concern to the African-American community – her plan for continued support of HBCU’s via The New College Compact and the rising costs of prescription drugs, which impact a disproportionate amount of African-Americans. Listen above and check out more details of her proposed initiatives on the next page.

HILLARY CLINTON’S PLAN FOR HBCU’S: 

Historically Black Colleges and Universities play a critical role in our higher education system. They provide African Americans and other minorities with a quality education, and increase the chances of social mobility and economic security for hundreds of thousands of students each year who have historically faced discriminatory and unequal treatment.

The role of HBCUs has never been more vital, graduating the majority of African American teachers in our country, nearly 1 in 5 African Americans who earn science and engineering BAs, and HBCUs are serving more than 300,000 students.Predominantly Black Institutions also play a critical role and will be eligible for all of the supports for HBCUs in Hillary Clinton’s college plan.

Hillary Clinton knows the critical role that HBCUs play in extending opportunity to underserved students. The New College Compact will support, encourage, and reward the HBCUs that help our students succeed so students can complete college, without costs being a barrier or debt holding them back.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly Black Institutions play a critical role in our higher education system and in closing the opportunity gap that we know exists for the hundreds of thousands of students each year who have historically faced discriminatory and unequal treatment.

The New College Compact will support, encourage, and reward the HBCUs that help our students succeed so students can complete college, without costs being a barrier or debt holding them back.

For all public HBCUs, under the New College Compact students should never have to take out a loan to earn four-year degrees and will not have to pay a dime to earn two-year degrees because the plan:

*   Invests new federal funds in states that commit to investing more in public HBCUs, meaning that HBCUs benefit from additional federal as well as state support under her plan.

*   Invests more funds when public schools enroll low- and middle-income students, meaning that HBCUs, which play a key role in educating underserved students, will be eligible for proportionally more support.

*   Ensures that Pell recipients at these public HBCUs can direct their full Pell funding toward living expenses.

For all private HBCUs, Clinton’s plan:

*   Creates a dedicated $25 billion fund to provide support to private nonprofit schools that serve low- and middle-income students and help them build the skills they need, of which private HBCUs are a prime example.

This plank in Clinton’s plan was inspired by the America’s College Promise Act, introduced in Congress in July by Rep. Bobby Scott, which is designed to create new pathways to four-year degrees at HBCUs as well as other MSIs. The new funds help the schools lower attendance costs and implement supports to improve student outcomes. Clinton knows that private HBCUs serve an important public mission, and that’s why she makes a significant commitment to these schools in her plan.

And for all HBCUs, both public and private, YOUR plan

*   Significantly cuts the interest rates that students pay on any loans they take out so that the government never profits on the loans.

*   Enables students with debt to refinance their loans at low current rates.Parents with PLUS loans will also be able to refinance at current rates.

*   Extends the American Opportunity Tax Credit with its $1,000 refundable credit to low-income families sending their sons and daughters to these schools.

*   Ensures that parents who borrow through the Parent PLUS program will not have to take out such high levels of debt in order to send their children and grandchildren to these schools.

*   Enables students never to have to repay more than 10 percent of their monthly income.

*   Builds on programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP to invest in student support, including child care for students who are parents, to help all students stay in school and boost compl

*   Predominantly Black Institutions will be eligible for all of the supports for HBCUs in Hillary Clinton’s college plan.

HILLARY CLINTON’S PLAN FOR PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS

Hillary Clinton believes we need to get incomes rising so American families can afford a middle class life. But too many American families and seniors are being squeezed by rising drug costs – even as they have seen their wages and incomes grow far too slowly for years. This is an issue that affects all Americans and particularly the African American community, as White households earn 13 times the median wealth of African American households.

Every month, 90 percent of seniors and around half of all Americans take a prescription drug. African Americans make up 10 percent of Medicare beneficiaries and a typical senior on Medicare spends over $500 per year out of his or her own pocket on prescription drugs. Additionally, individuals with chronic health conditions or serious illnesses can spend thousands of dollars each year in out of pocket spending to afford their prescription drugs. This is particularly relevant in the African American community, which faces significant health disparities. For instance, African Americans face high rates of HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. These out-of-pocket costs are a great burden for African Americans.

The largest pharmaceutical companies are together earning $80-$90 billion per year in profits at higher margins than other industries, while charging Americans thousands of dollars for new drugs – often at much higher costs than in other developed nations. They’re receiving billions of dollars in taxpayer support for basic research, but spending more on marketing than R&D. Americans are having a hard time paying the bill. According to a Consumer Reports survey in August, “one of out every four people facing higher drug costs were also unable to afford medical bills or medications; one in five said they missed a payment on a major bill.” African Americans are particularly vulnerable to difficulties paying for prescription drugs when compared with Whites, largely because they face higher health risks, have less formal education and have lower annual incomes.

Hillary Clinton believes we need to promote competition and leverage our nation’s bargaining power to lower drug costs on behalf of Americans. Hillary Clinton believes that we need to hold drug companies accountable to lower drug costs for Americans. And this isn’t a new fight for her. She fought against special interests for affordable health coverage in the 1990s and as a Senator. In her 2008 campaign, she called for allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies to reduce prices and rein in costs. She’s been committed to this fight throughout her career, and is continuing it today.

That’s why Hillary Clinton is announcing a plan to hold the pharmaceutical industry accountable and rein in drug costs for American families. Her plan will demand a stop to excessive profiteering and marketing by denying tax breaks for direct-to-consumer advertising and demanding that drug companies invest in R&D in exchange for taxpayer support – rather than marketing or excessive profits. She will encourage competition to get more generics on the market and create a Federal backstop for when there are excessively high-priced drugs that face no competition. And for Americans struggling with prescription drug cost burdens, she will cap what insurers can charge consumers in out-of-pocket costs, putting money back in the family wallet.

Hillary Clinton will demand a stop to excessive profiteering and marketing costs by encouraging innovation and new treatments from drug companies. Her plan will:

• Stop direct-to-consumer drug company advertising subsidies, and reinvest funds in research. Almostevery country in the industrialized world bans or severely restricts direct to consumer advertising because it increases prescription drug costs, and can include confusing, misleading or incomplete information or exaggerated claims if not regulated effectively. Clinton’s plan would eliminate corporate write-offs for direct-to-consumer advertising, saving the government billions of dollars over the next decade. She would use the proceeds to help invest in research, by devoting the funds to help pay for making permanent and simplifying the R&D tax credit. And going forward, Clinton’s plan would establish a mandatory FDA pre-clearance procedure for these ads funded through user-fees paid for by pharmaceutical manufacturers in order to be sure that the ads provide clear and understandable information to consumers.

• Require drug companies that benefit from taxpayers’ support to invest in research, not marketing or profits. For years, Hillary Clinton has made the case that Americans should get the value they deserve for the billions of dollars in support they provide through federal investment in basic research and incentives for R&D. Drug companies should not be allowed to reap excessive profits or spend unreasonable amounts on marketing if they want to receive support that is designed to encourage life-saving and health-improving treatments. Clinton’s proposal would require pharmaceutical companies that benefit from federal support to invest a sufficient amount of their revenue in R&D, and if they do not meet targets, boost their investment or pay rebates to support basic research. If elected President, she will convene business leaders, experts on drug pricing, and consumer advocates to set new parameters for federal support in order to ensure this requirement. The basic principle is based on a provision of the Affordable Care Act that required insurance companies to pay rebates to consumers if their profits and administrative costs were an excessive share of benefits actually paid out to consumers.

Hillary Clinton will lower costs for African Americans by limiting out-of-pocket spending, increasing competition, and demanding value for their purchase:

• Cap monthly and annual out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs to save patients with chronic or serious health conditions hundreds or thousands of dollars. African Americans should be able to afford prescriptions for their conditions throughout the year, and not have to stop taking a needed medication. Following the example of states like California and Maine, Clinton’s plan will require health insurance plans to place a monthly limit of $250 on covered out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for individuals to provide financial relief for patients with chronic or serious health conditions, ensuring Americans can get the care their doctors prescribe. The cap would apply to prescriptions covered by insurance that are specifically approved by FDA for the treated condition. Up to a million Americans could benefit from this proposal every year.

• Increase competition for prescription drugs, including specialty drugs, to drive down prices and give consumers more choices. Hillary Clinton’s plan will increase competition for traditional generics and generic versions of specialty drugs such as newer “biologics:”

• Clear out the FDA generic backlog: Clinton’s plan will fully fund the FDA’s Office of Generic Drugs to clear out their multi-year generic drug approval backlog, which has kept competitors off the market, and can help lower overall prescription drug prices.

• Increase competition for specialty drugs including new “biologic” drugs – which are often the most expensive new treatments: Specialty drugs, such as biologics, have provided new treatments and improved health for people suffering from chronic illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, and multiple sclerosis, and people suffering from serious illnesses such as cancer. But often these drugs are the only ones on the market – and with no competition to keep the price down, drug companies can charge excessive prices.

Clinton’s plan will increase competition for new treatments derived from biological sources by encouraging generic versions. Lowering the biologic exclusivity period from 12 to 7 years will spur greater competition and save up to $5 billion for the federal government over 10 years. This is especially important because biologics are often the most expensive new drugs, such as new heart disease treatments, which may cost $10,000 per year. The FDA should also give prioritized, expedited review to biosimilar applications that only have one or two competitors in the marketplace (situations where such drugs are most likely to be excessively priced).

• Prohibit “pay for delay” arrangements that keep generic competition off the market. Hillary Clinton would prohibit “pay for delay” agreements that allow drug manufacturers to keep generic competition off of the market – lowering prices for Americans, and saving the government up to $10 billion.

• Allow Americans to import drugs from abroad – with careful protections for safety and quality. Hillary Clinton believes that it’s unfair that drug companies charge far lower prices abroad for the same treatment, while imposing higher prices on Americans. Countries in Europe often pay half of what Americans pay for the same drugs. Clinton would allow Americans to safely and securely import drugs for personal use from foreign nations whose safety standards are a strong as those in the United States. The FDA and other regulatory agencies would set careful standards for re-importation to ensure safety and quality for Americans.

• Ensure African American consumers are getting value for their drugs. Clinton’s plan will ensure that new drugs coming on the market provide value and high quality to consumers, rather than adding to cost without improving treatments and outcomes. Clinton recognizes that new drugs can constitute incredible breakthroughs in treating diseases from HIV/AIDS to cardiovascular disease to diabetes to obesity, which are particularly prevalent in the African American community – and we need to ensure that there are proper incentives for real innovations that bring effective products to market. Clinton believes that Americans should not face extreme costs, or pay too much for drugs that do not in actuality improve on available treatments. She has a long and strong record of supporting the evaluation of the value, quality, and comparative effectiveness of new drugs. That’s why she’ll build on provisions in the Affordable Care Act that invest in private research, and other private efforts, to use the results of private-sector analyses to hold drug companies accountable for justifying their costs and ensure African Americans pay drug prices that reflect the improved value new treatments provide. Continuing to protect and enhance the Affordable Care Act, which has already made over 6.8 million African Americans eligible for health coverage, is vital for this community.

Hillary Clinton will leverage America’s negotiating power as a backstop

Where competition alone isn’t enough to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable and drive prices down, Hillary Clinton’s plan would leverage America’s strong bargaining power to demand higher rebates and lower costs from drug companies. Her plan will:

• Demand higher rebates for prescription drugs in Medicare. To contain the cost of prescription drugs for low-income individuals, people with disabilities, and seniors, Hillary Clinton’s plan will require drug manufacturers to provide rebates for low-income Medicare enrollees that are equivalent to rebates in the Medicaid program. Under current law, the rebates offered in the Medicaid program are more generous than those offered in Medicare. Hillary Clinton would require pharmaceutical companies to provide higher rebates in the Medicare low-income subsidy program, ensuring that rebates are at Medicaid levels. This would save more than $100 billion in Medicare costs.

• Allow Medicare to negotiate drug and biologic prices. Hillary Clinton has long believed that Medicare should use its leverage with more than 40 million enrollees, including over five million African Americans, to negotiate and drive down drug and biologic prices for seniors and others in the program. Today, drug prices in Medicare are negotiated by a disparate set of benefit managers, rather than using the full bargaining power of the program. Clinton believes that we should drive the best bargain for Americans, and especially for senior citizens, by allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, notably for high-cost drugs with limited competition.

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