Candidates on health care,

[ProSense]

from TPM Cafe:

* John Edwards: The only candidate to present a specific plan, The Washington Post claims. Said it would cost $90 billion to $120 billion a year and that he would raise taxes to pay for it by rolling back Bush's tax cuts for people with incomes above $200,000. "One of the reasons I want to be president is to make sure every woman and every person in America gets the same things that we have," Edwards says.

<…>

* Hillary Clinton: Skirted question of whether to raise taxes, WaPo says. Promised a "big political" battle with the insurance companies, and "said she would prohibit insurers from denying coverage or charging much higher premiums to people with medical problems," says The Times.

* Barack Obama: Pledged support for universal health care, but also said he hadn't concluded how much additional revenue it might take. Asked by an audience member why he didn't have a specific plan yet, Obama said his campaign was formulating one and that the primary goal now was to build national consensus around the idea.

* Dennis Kucinich: Laid out what The Times calls the "most sweeping" proposal, to create “a universal, single-payer not-for-profit health care system providing Medicare for all.”

More coverage here and here.

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But ABC News observes: "Only former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., has outlined a specific plan."

[ray of light]

1. I can always count on you prosense to give me the info I need. thanx

[Tellurian]

5. And I always check for whats missing..:)

Found this on Pg-1 of your Wapo article:

Hillary's quote on UHC:

"New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was part of the last significant effort to overhaul the system during her husband's administration. That attempt failed, but the Democratic candidates said Saturday that the conditions exist to push for dramatic change.

But Clinton warned that getting there would still be difficult. "We don't just need candidates to have a plan," she said. "All of them have plans. We need a movement. We need people to make this the number one voting issue in the '08 election."

[ProSense]

7. You mean Hillary Clinton wants health care not Iraq to be the #1 issue?

Wonder why?

I think the public has health care high on the list, but with soldiers dying every day and a war debt fast approaching a trillion dollars, it's Iraq.

[illinoisprogressive]

2. Sen. Obama sponsored our health care for under 18

I'd think he is using some of that plan for his universal one. But, he is very detailed and would want something workable and not slap dash or complicated with stupid things. He always does really thoughtful, well done bills and I imagine that is more so the case with health care as it's something he's very concerned about.

[Colobo]

9. I'm hoping that's the case

[Colobo]

10. Dupe!

[napi21]

3. I didn't read the links, but the synopsis above isn't really quite true.

There's some truth to each statement, but that's all. I watched the whole Health Care Forum yesterday, and you really need to do that to make a judgement for yourself.

[Tellurian]

4. Unfortunately, Kucinich's plan is on the Canadian model..

[Cleita]

12. Yes, and it's the one that will work. Any other plan will get us

less health care and more expensive health care like we have had all along. Until the private insurer, middle men are cut out, there will be no solution, only more of the profiteering same-o, same-o we have had all along.

Do yourself a favor and read through this website by Harvard doctors who have a real solution to offer.

http://www.pnhp.org

[mvd]

6. I support single payer like Dennis

I would be willing to pay higher taxes if the increases on the rich aren't sufficient. All of these plans are a big step in the right direction, though. Insurance companies denying coverage based on existing or pre-existing conditions is one of my biggest beefs. Glad Hillary addressed that.

[ebayfool]

8. I haven't seen any details on Clinton's plan - is she still wanting to keep insurance companies

in the mix? That, to me, is a big drawback - they are part of the problem. They should be excised from any plan that is presented as a solution. The snipped statement seems to imply she is thinking they should be included in her plan - but controlled?

They won't be controlled, they'll contaminate & twist & maneuver until they can get their 'pound of flesh' back.



* Hillary Clinton: Skirted question of whether to raise taxes, WaPo says. Promised a "big political" battle with the insurance companies, and "said she would prohibit insurers from denying coverage or charging much higher premiums to people with medical problems," says The Times.

[flaminbats]

11. Edwards and Hillary impressed me the most..

Richardson and Obama impressed me the least at this forum. Edwards is willing to say what more Democrats need to say to get elected, higher taxes will be necessary to cover everyone.

Democrats will never escape the "tax and spend" label by avoiding the truth. We can have Republicans who spend more and tax less, or Democrats who spend less and tax more. We can go down like the USSR did by laying our future foundations on mountains of debt, or we can pay off that highly priced debt and enjoy the benefits of owning our government for decades to come.