Candidate Health Care Plans Analyzed; Kerry Proposal Much Bigger Than Bush

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5509-2004May5.html


Candidate Health Care Plans Analyzed
Kerry Proposal Much Bigger Than Bush's
By Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 6, 2004; Page A08


President Bush's plans for expanding health care would provide coverage to fewer than 2.5 million uninsured Americans at a cost of $90 billion, a far more modest approach than Democrat John F. Kerry's $653 billion package that would insure 27 million people, according to an analysis released yesterday.



The 10-year cost projections by Emory University health economist Kenneth E. Thorpe illustrate the widely divergent views of the two presidential candidates on an issue that continues to be high on the list of voter concerns.

"The two sets of numbers demonstrate the magnitude of dollars required to cover a substantial number of the uninsured," said Diane Rowland, executive vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Nearly 44 million Americans -- or 16 percent of the population -- do not have health insurance. Some pay for medical care out of their own pockets, but many more receive emergency care only at hospitals, expenses that are passed on in the form of higher fees to insured individuals, employers and the government.