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Tue Oct 28, 5:15 PM ET |
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By STEPHEN FROTHINGHAM, Associated Press Writer
DURHAM, N.H. - Wesley Clark (news - web sites) joined his Democratic rivals in offering a health care plan, promising to provide coverage to nearly 32 million of the more than 40 million uninsured Americans.
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The latest entrant to the Democratic race, the retired Army general is seeking to fill out a largely blank domestic agenda, offering an economic proposal last week and focusing on health care Tuesday. Clark said his 34 years in the military greatly influenced his thoughts about health care.
"When I got out of the Army, I was surprised to learn how many of my friends hadn't had preventative screenings," Clark said in a speech at the University of New Hampshire. "I think we need a health care plan that promotes wellness in America — not just treatment."
Clark's plan calls for spending $772 billion for expanded health insurance coverage and to subsidize insurance for those who have difficulty paying for it now. He also called for investing $48 billion over 10 years on other improvements to the health care system.
Those expenses would be offset by $125 billion in savings from improved health care purchasing — such as opening competitive bidding for Medicare services — and from modernizing health care administration through the use of information technology.
"We estimate that we'll cover almost 32 million people who are currently uncovered by health care ... and we're going to do it for less than the cost of repealing President Bush (news - web sites)'s tax cut for the wealthiest Americans," Clark said.
Like the plan offered by his rival John Edwards, Clark would make it law that parents get health insurance for their children. All families making up to five times the poverty limit would be eligible for a tax credit that could help them pay for their children's health care, either through their employer or a government plan.
Some of Clark's rivals, including Dick Gephardt (news - web sites), John Kerry (news - web sites), Howard Dean (news - web sites) and Joe Lieberman (news - web sites), are also offering plans that aim to cover nearly all Americans.
Dennis Kucinich wants a publicly financed health care system that would cover all Americans. Edwards is proposing an alternative that would make more modest increases in coverage, but at a lower cost.
Clark says he would pay for his plan by raising taxes on Americans who make more than $200,000 a year to bring back the revenue lost in Bush's tax cuts.
Clark talked about his own experience with the health care system after being shot by a sniper in Vietnam. Clark said he was hit four times and then underwent surgery and endured months of painful rehabilitation. The Army provided for all of his medical needs — "right down to the rubber ball I squeezed for nearly a year to build strength in my hand," he said.
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