Candidate Review

 

Health Care

 

General Wesley Clark

 

. . . here is Wesley Clarks health plan. He bases it on the sort of care he got in the army, which makes sense. This is from a speech on October 28, 2003.

"One of the great benefits to the health plan I had in the Army was that it emphasized prevention at every step along the way - from annual physicals, to cholesterol screenings, to routine check-ups. The Army recognized from the start the potential of early diagnosis and prevention to lengthen lives and reduce health care costs. Frankly, when I got out of the Army, I was surprised to learn how many health plans didn't require preventive screenings of any kind.

My plan promotes prevention, diagnosis, and management of health and disease by working to ensure that all Americans have access to and incentives to use recommended preventive services that would diagnose diseases early, improve health and constrain long-term costs.

It also reorients the health system towards payment of services that have value. My plan puts its trust in independent health clinicians rather than HMO executives or pharmaceutical company marketers to conduct clinical research comparisons to help identify what works best.

It would also evaluate and promote the proper role and use of cost sharing to reduce excessive and expensive utilization - as well as to avoid "under insurance," which can be caused by excessive deductibles or co-payments. The information produced by these independent experts - who would have no monetary conflicts -- would help all purchasers of health care make informed choices about what services produce the best medical outcomes. This would protect and promote health as well as guard against wasteful and potentially harmful spending.

As we improve care, we must be certain to make it more affordable for taxpayers, enrollees, businesses, and federal, state, and local governments. To this end, I would institute competitive bidding for Medicare services; remove legal loopholes that block high quality, more affordable generic drugs from coming to the market; promote responsible malpractice reform; and aggressively pursue and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse in the system. Where we can make our health care systems more responsive to the medical and cost needs of our people, we should not hesitate to do so."

 

Former Governor Howard Dean

 

And here is Howard Dean's proposal on health care, from his website.

"First, and most important, in order to extend health coverage to every uninsured child and young adult up to age 25, we'll redefine and expand two essential federal and state programs -- Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Right now, they only offer coverage to children from lower-income families. Under my plan, we cover all kids and young adults up to age 25 -- middle income as well as lower income. This aspect of my plan will give 11.5 million more kids and young adults access to the healthcare they need.

Second, we'll give a leg up to working families struggling to afford health insurance. Adults earning up to 185% of the poverty level -- $16,613 -- will be eligible for coverage through the already existing Children Health Insurance Program. By doing this, an additional 11.8 million people will have access to the care they need.

. . . Finally, to ensure that the maximum number of American men, women and children have access to healthcare, we must address corporate responsibility. There are many corporations that could provide healthcare to their employees but choose not to. The final element of this plan is a clear, strong message to corporate America that providing health coverage is fundamental to being a good corporate citizen. I look at business tax deductions as part of a compact between American taxpayers and corporate America. We give businesses certain benefits, and expect them to live up to certain responsibilities."

 

Senator John Edwards

 

Here is John Edwards health plan, from a speech on July 28, 2003.

"First, I propose a new bargain with America's parents to make sure every child gets health insurance. If we're going to fix our broken health care system, the responsible place to start is with the greatest injustice—uninsured children.

More than a century ago, we made sure every child in America could get an education. And 60 years ago, President Harry Truman recognized a responsibility that we've not yet met. He said, "The health of American children, like their education, should be recognized as a definite public responsibility."

We can't reach that goal unless both government and parents take responsibility to put children first.

. . . I will double resources for public health clinics just like this one. I want clinics to be able to keep longer hours so they can serve working families. They need to be in convenient locations: next to schools and shopping malls so parents can use them. And I want to offer mobile clinics that come to the isolated and rural communities too often forgotten by our health care system.

Finally, I will hold insurance companies, drug companies, doctors, and lawyers responsible for keeping health care costs down. We can never meet our responsibilities to one another if the health care system isn't responsible about costs.

Something is wrong when drug companies are spending billions of dollars on advertising for their new drugs while seniors are sitting at their kitchen tables deciding what they can afford: their rent or their medication. Something is wrong when insurance companies raise premiums by 15 percent but fail to use new technologies to lower their cost—like eliminating unnecessary paperwork. "

 

Representative Dick Gephardt

 

Here is the text from an ad that Representative Gephardt is running in Iowa.

"Plan"

"When I'm president, my first week as president, I'll go to the Congress and lay aside the Bush tax cuts and I'll use those moneys to see to it that everybody is covered with health insurance in this country that can never be taken away from you. I help part time employees, full time employees. I help people who already have insurance, people who don't have insurance. I help public employees.

"I'm Dick Gephardt and I approve this message because it's time we did what's right."

 

Senator John Kerry

 

And here's John Kerry's plan, as he presented it on December 14, 2003

"In my first 100 days as President, I'll offer America a real deal on health care that starts with cutting costs and stopping skyrocketing premiums. Make no mistake, no one in this race will fight harder than I will to cover the uninsured and get to universal coverage. But there is more to the health care problem in America than covering the uninsured. The major reason Americans don't have coverage is they can't afford it. And it's not enough to get everyone covered if the whole country is still staggering under the weight of our medical bills. . . .

Here's how we'll do it. Right now, only four out of every one thousand insurance claims deal with health care costs over $50,000. Insurance companies, however, end up spending a fifth of their expenses paying for these very few cases. If they're spending that much, you can bet everyone else's premiums are going to go up. Under my plan the government will pick up most of the tab for these expensive cases - and the premiums for middle-class families will go down.

We'll also cut the fraud and waste out of the health care system. It would be one thing if every dime of that $4,000 was being spent on making Americans healthier. It's not. A quarter of the money Americans spend on health care goes to non-medical costs like paying bills and handling paperwork. If we can have banks that use computers and technology to cut down transaction costs to just a penny, we can surely have a health care system that does the same. Our money should be going to health care, not filling out forms."

 

Senator Dennis Kucinich

 

Dennis Kucinich is in favor of universal health care, and sets up his system in contrast to trillion dollar tax cuts, in a speech on September 14, 2002.

"The General Accounting Office in Washington has written "If the US were to shift to a system of universal coverage and a single payer, as in Canada, the savings in administrative costs (10% to private insurers) would be more than enough to offset the expense of universal coverage." A 7% payroll tax and a 2 percent income tax would provide the financing. Compare this with a trillion dollar tax cut for the wealthy. We could put in its place a single government fund which pays all medical expenses. A single fund which provides singular protection against illness and hopelessness. A single fund which will strengthen our families and our businesses and will enable you to go back to the bargaining table to win those wage increases which are essential to a better life."

 

Senator Joe Lieberman

 

What's interesting is that health care is really on the table at this point. Even Joe Lieberman would do something if put in office. This is from a speech on September 2, 2003.

"Now how can we do all this? By moving step-by-step as we get the economy going and bring the deficit down. By smartly targeting our resources first on the people who need the help most -- children and workers who are falling through the cracks. By building on what works in the current system -- and fixing what does not. By cutting waste and improving efficiency. And by strengthening public health, wellness, and prevention programs that will deter disease, save lives, and reduce costs.

It's not magic; it is a workable solution. For example, to expand coverage, I am going to create new streamlined purchasing pools that will harness the best forces of the market and the positive power of individual choice.

Let me explain how these work. If you're a self-employed consultant, or part-time worker, or between jobs, right now you have to buy health insurance -- if you can find it -- on your own, at high rates. But my plan combines millions of people to exercise vast buying power on behalf of each of these individuals, while limiting the profits that insurance companies can make. That will help keep premiums low.

We know this will work. Why? Because these pools are based on the successful system that currently works for federal employees, who enjoy a wide range of coverage options at affordable prices."

 

Former Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun

 

[T]his is from Carol Moseley Braun's website.

"Everybody in this country already gets health care. If you fall out and you don't have insurance, somewhere you will be cared for. Probably in an emergency room.

It'll probably be the most expensive care you can get. And the cost will just get shifted throughout the system to other payers - many times, people pay for insurance through their employer. What I've proposed is a single-payer system that will take advantage of the fact that we are already paying 15 percent of our gross domestic product on health care, de-couple it from employment so that it's not a burden on job creation, it's not a burden on small businesses, and it doesn't come out of the payroll tax, which is the most regressive tax, to begin with. And with the revenue that we have from that, from that 15 percent, we can then afford a system much like the federal employees have under what's called FEHBP, a federal system in which you have a single payer but the administration takes place by the companies that individuals choose.

The most important part of this is that the physician or the provider and patient relationship has to be central to the health care system. Because if you do that, then you will have a dynamic in favor of quality of care and taking care of patients and people's illnesses - or wellness as well, frankly, because prevention is a big part of this. But you will have a dynamic in favor of quality that the current profit-driven system does not have."