Both candidates for the U.S. House in the 13th Congressional District have faced the fear associated with having a spouse with cancer. But they still have radically different views on how the nation should mold healthcare policy.

David Gill, an emergency room physician from Bloomington, the Democratic candidate, lost his first wife of nearly 20 years Polly -- to cancer in 2007.

Rodney Davis of Taylorville, the Republican candidate, is thankful that surgery following discovery of colon cancer in his wife, Shannon, in 1999, has left her cancer-free.

The new 13th includes part of Springfield. Davis was recently appointed to replace U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, who won the primary, but dropped out of the Nov. 6 election.

Davis and Gill both have mentioned their families when discussing health care during the campaign.

With the extensive bureaucracy of Obamacare, Im not too sure wed have that same result today, Davis told Sangamon County Republicans when he appeared before committeemen last month.

He thinks the health care plan signed into law by President Barack Obama, officially the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, should be replaced with what Davis calls a market-based healthcare safety net. Included would be greater use of government-backed clinics to avoid the high cost of emergency rooms for minor ailments.

Gill advocates a national healthcare system he calls improved Medicare for all, which would cut insurance companies out of the health-care process. Gill has been a member of Physicians for National Health Care since long before Polly became ill.

Her illness didnt impact where Im at on the issue, Gill said in an interview. That said, she was another example of the types of difficulties that Americans face because of the way we finance our health care here.

Gill and his daughter Tally, 19, who just finished her freshman year at the University of Illinois, appeared in a campaign video about Polly and her illness.

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Health care divides U.S. House candidates Gill, Davis