In health care debate, U-word is back
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It's been 14 years since first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care reform plan sank like a stone, swallowed by fears of a big-government power grab. In the years since, wary presidential candidates at first avoided the issue altogether, then gingerly dipped one toe, then another, back into the pool.
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OTTAWA (CP) - The former governor of Canada&#39;s central bank has made an unusual foray into the political fray over health care, questioning proposals for greater competition within the single-payer medicare system.
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Description: One of the few new ideas in health care this year is a piece of John Kerry&#39;s health plan that would have the federal government take over the costs of patients with &quot;catastrophic&quot; illnesses.
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House members are about to learn whether some nips and tucks to a children's health bill will be enough to secure a veto-proof margin against a White House that wants major surgery.
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The ballooning cost of cancer treatment offers an example of how difficult it may be to rein in the nationâs runaway health care spending.
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DETROIT - As bargainers for the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. continue to haggle across a table in Detroit, the big issue in the critical contract talks comes down to this: If GM pays the union to take on the company's huge retiree healthcare obligations, can the UAW's investments return more than the rate of healthcare inflation?
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Their views on health care crystallize the differences of their parties. Is covering the 44 million uninsured Americans an investment or an expense?
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As an early proponent of universal health care coverage, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards on Monday found himself struggling to differentiate his plan from one released last week by New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the partyÃ¢ÂÂs front-runner.
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Yesterday's piece on health care and the presidential election got a great response, and some of it from Republicans, using the slogans and logic I hoped they wouldn't. But that's okay, it helps me focus my rhetoric on the precise point of disagreement, and hopefully by illuminating it, I can either convince some of the Republicans to come over to my side, or help eliminate some of the confusion on both sides. Or maybe it'll just keep the argument from slopping over into all kinds of irrelevant issues. The basic Republican argument goes like this. Why should I pay for the health needs of people who are so irresponsible as to not have health insurance.  If I got it wrong, please set me straight. Now I'd like to answer this, very carefully. The Democrats aren't proposing that you should pay for the uninsured. Key point. They either agree with you, or know that they're not going to get their proposal passed unless they take this into account. The Obama plan says you don't get care unless you have insurance. His proposal aims to get a lot more people insured. Clinton goes one step further, by requiring everyone to have health insurance.  Also, you already pay for the health needs of the uninsured. Whether you or I like it, we don't look the other way when someone is in need. You may feel the system should work differently, but that's not responsive to the proposal the Democrats are making. The debate is how health care works for the non-indigent.  If you have property, a car, a house, or if your kids go to private school or college, or if you want to take a vacation, or have a baby, or exercise between jobs, getting sick without insurance is a sure way to go from being middle class to being poor, quickly. This is why we have health insurance, to smoothe out the risk, to protect our family's lifestyle. It seems to me it's a good thing. It's the market solving a basic human need.  So this is what we should be discussing, how can we get insurance for all the people who want it, or should we require it for everyone -- this is the debate of 2008. This is what the Democrats are putting on the table, and what McCain, or whoever is the Republican nominee, will have to respond to, if we're going to have the respectful debate everyone is talking about having.  Why is this such a problem?  A lot of people, even healthy people without pre-existing conditions, can't get health insurance. And what if you have a pre-existing condition? Do you really think it's cool for the insurance industry to refuse them coverage? Why is that a good thing? I honestly don't get it. Consider the penalty for not having insurance. (See above.) So far the leaders of the Republican Party have managed to keep health care off the national agenda, but this year, it's there. If you doubt me, just ask a few people you know, and don't just ask poor people or Democrats, ask Republicans. Disease isn't a party issue, and while poor people tend to have poorer health, even well-off people need health care. And most people can't afford to pay for a catastrophic illness, and enough of them can't get health insurance to make this an important national issue. If you disagree with this, please let me know why. PS: Phil Windley asks where it stops. Should we provide free housing for the homeless? And what about free cable TV for people without cable TV? (He provides other examples.) No, this is only about health insurance. It's not about any of the other things mentioned in Phil's post.
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Of all the issues we voters thought about during the campaign, dealing with the costs of health care was one we all are concerned about.
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There is another election this week. The issues are not war, taxes, morals or international credibility. They are microbes, diseases, data and international credibility.
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Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton called for universal health care on Monday, plunging back into the bruising political battle she famously waged and lost as first lady on an issue that looms large in the 2008 presidential race.
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MARK Latham last night had a critical victory over John Howard in a debate which established that health and education could yet decide the election outcome.
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The cost crunch in health care is being made one of the most potent domestic issues of the election year.
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TORONTO -- The spectre of Ontario&#39;s controversial health-care premium returned to haunt the Liberal government Monday amid a growing controversy over whether some unionized workers should be expected to pay for it.
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A look at positions of the 2008 presidential candidates on health care:
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At some point in life every American enters through the doors of a hospital. Health care is a connection that can&#39;t be avoided which makes it a crucial issue in the presidential campaign.