Thursday, May 01, 2003

Election 2004

Democratic Presidential Candidate Howard Dean Previews Health Care Proposal

      Presidential candidate and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean (D) on April 30 previewed a health care proposal that would encourage more "aggressive efforts" at the state level to provide health insurance, the AP/Los Angeles Times reports. In a speech in New York to Service Employees International Union leaders, Dean said his plan would:

• Make all U.S. residents under age 25 eligible for Medicaid;
  
• Offer a prescription drug benefit for residents age 65 and older;
  
• Give government aid to small businesses to purchase employer-sponsored plans for employees ages 25 to 65;
  
• Make the federal government responsible for acute care for seniors so states could use those resources elsewhere; and
  
• Increase reimbursement rates to hospitals and physicians (AP/Los Angeles Times, 5/1).
  

"[Health care] is the issue I'm campaigning for," Dean said, adding, "The core issues that I care about is restoring this economy ... and providing health insurance for everyone" (Alpert, AP/Augusta Chronicle, 5/1). Last week, Rep. Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.), who also is seeking the Democratic nomination, announced his health care plan to SEIU leaders. Under the proposal, Gephardt would expand access to coverage by roughly doubling the federal subsidy to businesses to pay for insurance premiums to 60% and require employers to provide coverage; expand Medicare to allow individuals ages 55 to 64 to pay to enroll in the program; provide federal subsidies to help the unemployed purchase health coverage through COBRA; expand the CHIP program to cover parents of eligible children; and provide $172 billion to state and local governments over the next three years to reimburse them for the cost of health insurance for their employees. Gephardt said that the proposal would provide health insurance to 97% of the estimated 41 million U.S. residents who lack coverage and cost $214 billion in 2005 and $247 billion by 2007. To fund the plan, Gephardt would repeal tax cuts enacted by President Bush (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/29). Dean did not specifically address Gephardt's proposal, the AP/Chronicle reports. However, he said requiring employer-sponsored health insurance is a "great idea," but he added that it is not likely to win congressional approval (AP/Augusta Chronicle, 5/1). Dean also said he is "closely examining" a plan for universal health care outlined in a recent Commonwealth Fund report, according to the AP/Times (AP/Los Angeles Times, 5/1). CNN's "Inside Politics" on April 30 reported on whether there is political pressure to act on health care reform and proposals by Gephardt and Dean (Schneider, "Inside Politics," CNN, 4/30). The full transcript of the program is available online.