Tuesday, February 06, 2007 Coverage
& Access
Democratic Presidential Candidate Edwards Releases
Universal Health Coverage Plan That Includes Employer Mandates, Regional
Health Insurance Purchasing Pools
Democratic presidential candidate John
Edwards on Monday proposed a universal health coverage plan that would
raise taxes and impose health insurance mandates on employers, the Washington Post reports (Balz,
Washington Post, 2/6). Edwards said the plan would provide
coverage by 2012 for the estimated 47 million uninsured U.S. residents and
would cost between $90 billion and $120 billion per year (Finnegan, Los Angeles Times, 2/6). Under the plan,
employers would be required to provide health insurance for employees or
contribute 6% of their payrolls to a fund that would help individuals
purchase their own insurance (Broder, New York Times, 2/6). The proposal also would
allow employers and individuals to join regional health insurance pools to
purchase coverage. The federal government would be required to help states
or groups of states establish the not-for-profit purchasing pools or
markets (Christensen, Raleigh News & Observer, 2/6). The
pools would negotiate premiums and offer competing health plans. At least
one plan offered by each pool would be a public health program similar to
Medicare (Los Angeles Times, 2/6). In addition, Edwards said
the proposal would expand Medicaid and SCHIP to cover more children and
low-income parents (Lueck, Wall Street Journal, 2/6). The
plan also would provide tax credits or subsidies to low-income families
who cannot afford health insurance (New York Times, 2/6).
Funding
Edwards said the cost of the proposal would be
offset by eliminating tax cuts proposed by President Bush and approved by
Congress for households with annual incomes greater than $200,000. Edwards
said the program also would be funded by using an estimated $15 billion in
capital gains taxes that "go uncollected each year by requiring brokerage
houses to report capital gains from taxpayers' stock sales to the Internal Revenue Service, just
as interest and dividend income is reported now," the New York
Times reports. In addition, Edwards said that billions of dollars
could be saved by investing more in preventive care efforts and making the
health care system more efficient (New York Times, 2/6).
Comments
Edwards said, "This is the shared-responsibility
approach to reforming our health care system," adding, "I think it's a
dramatic change in the health care system, the kind of transformation it
needs. It's a truly universal system" (Washington Post, 2/6).
Edwards said he thinks the plan is "appealing across the ideological and
political spectrum" (Los Angeles Times, 2/6). Drew Altman,
president and CEO of the Kaiser
Family Foundation, credited Edwards with being the first 2008
presidential candidate to announce the details of a comprehensive
universal health care plan. Altman said, "This is a plan that borrows from
different approaches." However, "None of these plans are easy or without
issues that others can attack you on," Altman added. Stephanie Cathcart, a
spokesperson for the National Federation of Independent Business, said, "Health
care mandates are a non-starter for our members" (New York
Times, 2/6). Patrick Toomey, president of the Republican anti-tax
group Club for
Growth, said that plan would not be well received by most voters, who
"already think taxes are too high." Toomey added that the proposal is
"very good news for the Republican candidate, whoever that may be"
(Wall Street Journal, 2/6). Edwards' two main Democratic
rivals for the presidential nomination, Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton
(N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.), declined to comment on the details of
Edwards' proposal (New York Times, 2/6).
Other Proposals
The Wall Street Journal on
Tuesday examined how Edwards' plan "joins an array of proposals already
being advanced" by the White House, several states, lawmakers, and
insurance and consumer groups. According to the Journal,
"With health care shaping up as a major issue in the 2008 elections, more
plans are on the way," including from Clinton and Obama. The
Journal reports that "the chances of any of these proposals
being enacted this year are slim," but "if Congress and the White House
are looking to make a deal on something major, they might look to health
care." The Journal profiles health coverage proposals from
President Bush; Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.); Edwards; states, including
California, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania; and the Health
Coverage Coalition for the Uninsured. According to the
Journal, the plans by Bush and Wyden "have the potential to
affect nearly all Americans by fundamentally altering the
employer-sponsored system that now provides coverage to 175 million
people" (Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 2/6).
Broadcast Coverage
WAMU's "The Diane Rehm
Show" on Tuesday is scheduled to include an interview with Edwards
(Rehm, "The Diane Rehm Show," 2/6). The complete segment will be available
online after
the broadcast.