Democrats targeting health issues

Presidential candidates would repeal Bush's tax cuts to expand public programs and help more Americans buy insurance.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. June 2/9, 2003.

Washington -- Democratic presidential hopefuls are making health an important issue with their promises of sweeping health care reforms.

Rep. Richard Gephardt (D, Mo.) was the first to promote his universal health care plan in April. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, MD, was next, quickly followed by Sen. John Kerry (D, Mass.).

Health policy experts said this early showing of bold and expensive reform plans is a hopeful sign.

"It's nice to see us talking about big proposals," said Diane Rowland, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. She said the national discussion and concern for problems with the health care system were likely to propel the issue into next year's general election.

Robert B. Helms, a resident scholar and director of health policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said, "The fact that all the Democrats are running on trying to expand coverage means it's going to be an issue in the presidential election."

All the proposals are similar in that they build on the existing health care infrastructure and invest significant resources in addressing the problems of the uninsured. Most of the proposals include some form of tax credit and would pay for the new coverage by repealing all or part of President Bush's tax cuts.

"Whatever we want to do, there's a lot of good information out there about how to do it," Helms said. "The politics of this is primarily now an issue of commitment."