Hillary Clinton Unveils New Health Care Plan

Sep. 17, 2007 (KGO) (KGO) -- Polls show Hillary Clinton gets high marks on health care which is understandable because of her familiarity with the subject. In terms of putting out a health care plan, both John Edwards and Barack Obama beat her to it.

Because of her failed attempt to heal an ailing healthcare system when her husband was president, Hillary Clinton is more closely identified with healthcare and will be watched more closely on that issue. Polls show Hillary Clinton gets high marks on health care which is understandable because of her familiarity with the subject. In terms of putting out a health care plan, both John Edwards and Barack Obama beat her to it.

"We can talk all we want about freedom and opportunity, about life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness but what does all that mean to a mother and father who can't take a sick child to the doctor? We can no longer tolerate the injustice of a system that shuts out nearly one in six Americans", says Clinton.

Clinton's plan would make it mandatory for businesses to obtain insurance for employees. Her plan calls for subsidies to help the poor. It would expand existing children's health insurance programs and it allows people who already like their coverage to keep it.

An estimated 47 million Americans do not have health insurance. Clinton's plan mandates that everybody be insured -- so does John Edwards' plan and Barack Obama's health insurance plan is voluntary, but all promise to insure everybody.

Professor Halpin is an expert of health policy and he says the most striking thing about Clinton's plan is that it is so similar to the rest.

"They all require employers to either offer insurance or pay into a pool. They all build on Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance programs and they all provide subsidies to low wage workers to help them afford coverage."

Another way to look at it is that each of the three is presenting a very broad outline. Each is offering lots of options and far fewer details.

In 1993 and 94 Hillary Clinton offered a plan loaded with details. There was plenty for opponents to chew on and they eventually chewed it up. The lesson there was not lost on those pushing health care reform this time around.

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