Kerry Wins The Health Care Primary

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Bipartisan Panel of Experts Say Kerry Plan to Make Health Care Accesible, Affordable for all Americans Rates Above All Other '04 Candidates

Proving that he has the big ideas necessary to put America back on track and win the White House in 2004, Senator John Kerry beat out Democratic opponents and President Bush in a National Journal ranking of all the candidates' health care proposals.

A panel of 10 health policy professionals, representing a range of organizations from the conservative Heritage Foundation to the liberal Urban Institute, all agreed that John Kerry's plan to make health care more affordable and accessible is the best choice for doctors, health care workers, businesses, and all Americans looking for a solution to the health care crisis that has plagued our country for too long.

Kerry's plan would cover 27 million uninsured Americans and reduce premiums for everyone by 10%. With a plan that zeroes in so intensely on both the rising costs of health care and the crisis of the uninsured, it's no wonder the top experts in the health care field think Kerry's proposal is the best of the bunch!

http://www.johnkerry.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7032&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=-1

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:kick:

Buying into the federal plan, not medicaid, yeah! Help to mom & pop businesses, credits for the unemployed and others, automatic enrollment for low-income children, assistance to upgrade technology, lots more... really good ideas.

http://www.johnkerry.com/site/PageServer?pagename=spc_2003_0516

This has to be a joke...

Totals -

Kerry 29.2
Bush 28.9
Dean 25.5
Gephardt 22.9

http://www.johnkerry.com/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7031&security=1&news_iv_ctrl=-1

Far right Republicans will ALWAYS be partisan, no matter what.

Partisans in either party will ALWAYS be partisan, no matter what.

That said, bipartisan in this context usually means that there are equal numbers from both parties in the group. Or in other words ALL the corporations have their reps in there.

He scores very highly for administrative burden and government cost (big surprise), but also for capping malpractice premiums - precisely where Kerry outdistances the others.

But Bush and Kerry are from opposite ends of the spectrum. Bush would simply cap malpractice suits to help his corporate donors, while Kerry would take the most extreme cases out of the premium pool and pay them outright. By having the government pay those outright, we will all save millions on premiums. (He also explains what measures ensure that this buy-out can't be abused, but I won't go into it).

I thought the payroll tax thing was smart, but this is a fairly brilliant - and politically new - idea. Notice, too, the sharp rise in access to preventative care. That too will save only costly procedures.

Damn, I love this guy!

Most of the Dems seem to be proposing plans that would simply provide insurance to Americans who don't have health insurance already. But that's not national health insurance IMO. So I mean what if loads of employers suddenly stop fringe benefits for their employees? I'm just a little confused with this issue but PLEASE do not just reply to this with 6000 links. I'd be grateful to anyone who could just quickly summarize this complex issue for me. Thanks!

Are you asking for single payer?
If so, all I can say is that I agree with you that that is the way we should go... if we could. It's just that back when Clinton was trying to get his plan through, which really was not that radical, but was totally opposed by the insurance companies, I was a CSPAN junkie. I watched endless debates, hearings, votes and so on. Call me a cynic if you want, but I think I'm a realist to say that single payer is not going to get passed anytime soon. There would have to be a substantial liberal majority in Congress, or a sea change of public opinion.

So no the Kerry health care plan is not a single payer plan. It is a plan carefully crafted in hopes of actually being enacted. Hey nobody's talking 6000 links - the one link in post number two will take you to Kerry's own words on healthcare. If I could quickly summarize this complex issue, I'd be running for President.

http://www.seiu.org/action_center/issues_and_action/health_care2/2004_race.cfm

Only one link. :)

So, only Dean, Kerry, Gephardt, and Bush have health care plans?

I believe those are the only four plans that have been released thus far. Perhaps not coincidentally, Kerry, Dean, and Gephardt are also the top three Democratic contenders.

I'll check it out...

He does. See it at:

http://www.kucinich.net/issues/issue_universalhealth.htm

Well, I guess that blows my whole "candidates with health care plans doing well in polls" theory, eh? ;-)

Doesn't seem to be the level of detail in this that Kerry, Gephardt, and Dean had (with the exception of the "budgetary details" part), but it's still a pretty well-thought-out plan. My mistake for not noticing its existence.

I honestly have no idea what I was thinking. But it is a great picture...