Leading Democratic presidential candidates continued to focus on health care issues and "the question of how 'universal' a coverage plan must be," the Los Angeles Times reports. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) have proposed plans that would require all individuals to obtain health insurance, while Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has proposed such a requirement only for children (Wallsten/Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 12/1).
On Saturday at two forums held in Des Moines, Iowa, Clinton said of her health care proposal, "We have to have more cost-effective and higher-quality health care for everyone; I don't want to leave anyone uncovered." In response to a question about the participation of private health insurers under her proposal, Clinton said, "My plan also regulates insurance companies," adding, "They can no longer do business unless they were willing to drastically change the way they treat people." She also criticized Obama for his claims that his health care proposal would provide "universal" health insurance despite the lack of requirement that all residents obtain coverage (Glover, AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 12/2).
She said of his proposal, "It went from universal when I wasn't there to comprehensive when I was on the same stage," adding, "It's obvious that he doesn't want to face up to the very position he took because every time he changes his posture on it, he uses different words to describe it" (Earle, New York Post, 12/3). On Sunday, Clinton told reporters in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, that "you can't get a straight answer" from Obama on health care (Kornblut, Washington Post, 12/3). Patti Solis Doyle, Clinton's campaign manager, called on Obama to stop running a television ad that says his plan would "cover everyone." Doyle said Obama's plan would leave about 15 million of the uninsured uncovered.
On Friday at the fall meeting of the Democratic National Committee in Tyson's Corner, Va., Obama said that his health care proposal would seek to reduce costs and would prove more effective in efforts to expand health insurance than the Clinton plan. According to Obama, "I have put forth a universal health care plan that will do more to cut the cost of health care than any other proposal in this race. If you can't afford health insurance right now, you will be able to afford it when I'm president." He added "Anyone who tells you otherwise is more interested in scoring political points than actually solving the problem." Obama said, "Sen. Clinton is arguing that the only way to get every American covered is if you force every American to buy health care," adding that a lack of detail in the Clinton plan regarding enforcement of the requirement suggests that her criticism of his health care plan "is more of a political point that she's trying to make than a real point" (Los Angeles Times, 12/1).
Read More about Preferred Medical Claim Solutions
<<< Back to Health Care News
|