If the Clintons are afraid to honestly present their healthcare plan to a Dem audience, why should

milkyway

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Sun Mar-02-08 05:22 PM
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If the Clintons are afraid to honestly present their healthcare plan to a Dem audience, why should

we think they have any chance of ever getting it passed?

Bill Clinton, speaking at Texas A&M University this afternoon, said that everybody needs to be in the plan because it's the only way to control costs. He said this is done by having a larger number of people in the plan. But what he was afraid to say, and is rarely mentioned by the Clinton campaign, is that costs are kept down by requiring low-risk young people to subsidize high-risk people. These low-risk people must be required to pay for something that is a bad deal for them financially. This may be a good argument, but the Clintons are afraid to make it.

Yesterday in Fort Worth, Hillary deliberately misled the audience about the difference between her plan and Obama's plan. She described her healthcare plan as providing access for everyone to quality, affordable, healthcare insurance. She then said Obama's plan would leave millions of people out.

What she described as her plan, however, is exactly Obama's plan--the key word is "access." By saying her plan allows access to all, she's implying the millions left out by Obama will be because he will deny them access, rather than these people will voluntarily choose to decline healthcare insurance.

She never used the word "mandate" to describe her plan, and with very good reason. A lot of people won't like it. So she's decided to confuse people instead. She called Obama's plan her plan, and misled people to believe that Obama's will not allow access to all.

Millions will voluntarily choose to go without healthcare insurance under Obama's plan, but they will all have access to it. No one can be denied insurance.

Obama's plan provides access for all. Hillary's plan requires access for all. Why did she not make it clear that under her plan everyone is required by law to purchase healthcare insurance? Why does she refuse to say how she will enforce this requirement? Fines, garnishing wages, jail?

Also, under Hillary's plan there will still be millions without insurance--those who, despite the requirement and the penalties, still choose not to pay for insurance.

If she is afraid to make a clear case for her plan in front of an audience of Dems, how on earth does she think she'll get it passed? She won't get any republicans to support a plan with mandates, and many red-state Dems will not support it, either.

The main philosophical difference between the two plans is universal access vs. mandatory universal access. The Clinton campaign does not want to make that clear.

Teddy Kennedy says he has been trying to get a healthcare plan passed for almost half a century. He's zero for twelve so far. Why is he supporting Obama? Maybe it's because Obama has a lot better chance of passing his plan than Hillary has of passing hers.