Hillary Clinton: U.S. presidential election, 2008/health care



On September 17, 2007, Hillary Clinton announced her American Health Choices Plan in which she "proposed an overhaul of the nation's health care system ... that would require Americans to buy insurance but allow them to keep what they have."

Under Clinton's "new plan, the federal government would spend $110 billion a year to help employers and individuals pay for insurance. About half of the money would come from repealing tax cuts and tax breaks for people with incomes above $250,000; the rest would be saved through efficiencies in the system, such as chronic disease management.

"'This is not government-run. There will be no new bureaucracy,' Clinton said at a medical center in Iowa, scene of the race's first caucuses. 'You can keep the doctors you know and trust. You can keep your insurance plan if you like it.'"

"Clinton's plan would mandate that large employers offer health insurance or contribute to a government-run insurance pool. Small businesses would receive tax credits to help them cover employees.

"Lower-income individuals would be eligible for tax credits to prevent them from paying more than a set percentage of their income on health insurance. They could keep their policies, choose from an array of private plans similar to what federal employees are offered or enroll in a new government-run plan similar to Medicare.

"Insurers, who helped defeat the Clinton plan in 1994, would not be allowed to discriminate against or overcharge people with expensive medical conditions or risk factors."

In response, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt "said President Bush wants to achieve universal health care before he leaves office.

"Leavitt told the USA TODAY editorial board that Bush will veto a Democratic plan emerging from Congress that would add $35 billion in taxpayer subsidies to the Children's Health Insurance Program over five years. In doing so, Leavitt said, Bush will urge Congress to join him in seeking coverage for all Americans."

The following day, on September 18, 2007, in a perfectly-timed Wall Street Journal op-ed, former White House operative Karl Rove said the debate on health insurance is one Republicans "cannot avoid. But it is one we can win -- if we offer a bold plan. Conservatives must put forward reforms aimed at putting the patient in charge. Increasing competition will ensure greater access, lower costs and more innovation." Liberals, he wrote, "see the concerns of families as a failure of private insurance, and want the U.S. to move toward a government-run, single-payer model. This is a recipe for making problems worse."

Republican presidential hopefuls "criticized Clinton's plan as heavy-handed. Rudy Giuliani's campaign called it the 'Clinton-Moore plan' after filmmaker Michael Moore, whose film Sicko lambastes the U.S. health care system and lauds government-run programs in other countries. Mitt Romney called it 'a European-style socialized medicine plan.'"

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Philip Morris's role in defeating Clinton's health care proposal
 * U.S. State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) legislation
 * Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services section on State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP)

May

 * Jill Zuckman, "Clinton offers plan to control health care costs," Chicago Tribune, May 24, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Hillary Shines at Health Care Event," TaylorMarsh.com, May 24, 2007.
 * Katherine Q. Seelye, "Clinton Revisits Health Care and Affordability," New York Times, May 25, 2007.
 * Anne E. Kornblut, "Clinton Reenters the Health-Care Fray. With Nod to 'Wonky' 1993 Effort, She Challenges Rivals for Primacy on Issue," Washington Post, May 25, 2007.
 * Laura Meckler, "Clinton Sees $120 Billion In Health-Care Savings From Cost-Cutting," Wall Street Journal Online, May 25, 2007.
 * Russell Berman, "On Health Care, Clinton Gets Ready for Another Try," New York Sun, May 25, 2007.

July

 * Amanda Terkel, "Senators Call Bush’s Veto Of Children’s Health Insurance Program ‘Outrageous’ And ‘Offensive’," Think Progress, July 25, 2007.

September

 * "The Great Presidential Mashup. What the Democrats have to say about health care, Iraq, and more," Slate, September 12, 2007.
 * Susannah Meadows, "How Hillary Won Over the Health-Care Industry," Newsweek, September 17, 2007.

November

 * News release: "FreedomWorks Launches Online Campaign to Stop HillaryCare," FreedomWorks via Business Wire, November 5, 2007.
 * "Sen. Edwards Falsely Claims Hillary Didn't Support Universal Health Care 'Earlier This Year'," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 18, 2007.
 * "Sen. Obama Falsely Claims He Has 'Basically the Same' Health Care Plan as Hillary; Actually Leaves 15 Million Uninsured," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 19, 2007.
 * "Sen. Obama First Claims His Health Care Plan Covers All, Then Admits It Doesn't," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 21, 2007.
 * "Hillary's Health Care Plan Cuts Costs As Aggressively As Sen. Obama's Plan; Doesn't Leave 15 Million Uninsured"; "Sen. Obama's Shifting Positions On Health Care For All"; and "Fact Check: Sen. Obama's Plan Has Mandate, But Only For Kids," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 25, 2007.
 * "Experts: Without Mandate, No Universal Health Care," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 26, 2007.
 * "Individual Mandates and Universal Health Care," Hillary's Bloggers, November 26, 2007.
 * "Fact Check: Hillary Supported An Individual Mandate In 1990s," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 27, 2007.
 * John McCormick, "Clinton hits Obama on health care," Chicago Tribune, November 28, 2007.
 * Jennifer Jacobs and Jason Clayworth, "Clinton: Obama's health plan 'flunks'," DesMoines Register, November 28, 2007.
 * David Espo, "Clinton Says Obama Weak on Health Care," Associated Press (Washington Post), November 28, 2007.
 * Marc Ambinder, "Atlantic Umpire: Did HRC Oppose A Mandate In The 90s?" The Atlantic, November 28, 2007.
 * "Recap: Health Care for All v. 15 Million Uninsured," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 28, 2007.
 * "Bad Oppo Alert! – Hillary Has Always Supported An Individual Mandate," The Fact Hub/Hillary Hub, November 28, 2007.
 * "Setting the Record Straight AGAIN (UHC & Mandates)," Hillary's Bloggers, November 28, 2007.
 * Aaron Burns, "Hillary Hits Obama on Health Care," Fox News, November 29, 2007.
 * Paul Krugman, Opinion: "Mandates and Mudslinging," New York Times, November 29, 2007.
 * Mark Silva, "Universal health care: Universal disagreement," The Swamp Blog/Baltimore Sun, November 30, 2007.
 * Ben Smith, "Pushing health care contrast, Clinton wants Obama ad down," The Politico, November 30, 2007.
 * Taylor Marsh, "Health Care Smackdown," TaylorMarsh.com, March 30, 2007.

December

 * Steve Soto, "Going For The Trifecta In Iowa," The Left Coaster, December 3, 2007.

External resources

 * American Health Choices Plan, HillaryClinton.com.