Did Kerry offer "Universal Healthcare"

[Renew Deal]

That's what the talking heads are saying.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Not like Canadian style. See his website for details

[JohnKleeb]

2. dont know but if he did, so what

he's playing a moderate image but has a liberal agenda. Oh how I thought I would see the democratic party be like this.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. I assume he's planning to move by stages.

Any announcement of a big single-payer plan would get the insurance industry out in force in a massive PR strike against him, and those folks have billions like the beach has sand.

[benburch]

3. Yep...

He did. God bless him.

[The Blue Knight]

5. Americans deserve the same coverage as Congressmen.

I love you, John Kerry.

[jdj]

12. I got that too, said we would no longer be the only advanced

country in the world where health care is (paraphrasing) a privilege of the elites.

[depakid]

4. Not even close

That's one legitimate criticism of the speech. He claimed healthcare to be a right, but his plan, if you can call it that, will only slow the bleeding. It's a band aid, and the patient needs surgery.

[Connie_Corleone]

6. It sounded like it...

but, he never used those words. He said healthcare is a right for all americans.

I hope universal healthcare is his ultimate goal once he's president.

[Upfront]

8. He Did Not

Call it that term but I would say that was what he met. Good for him.

[apnu]

9. based off the speech, its more like a PPO than a crappy HMO n/t

[Cleita]

13. He's still including the Corporations. Same mistake Hillary made.

But I think health care won't be visited much beyond getting out of this war. We, the people have to insist on it. I am one of those who will.

[apnu]

16. that and depending on how the house and senate toss...

... which can quickly make him a liar b/c of partisan repuke control.

I'm not sure how the House will toss, but I feel good about the Senate.

[Cleita]

10. If he did, it's not on his website.

I have been downloading a lot of his points.

[George_Bonanza]

11. If Kerry uttered the word "universal", they'd brand him a pinko

[JohnKleeb]

17. thats why I like Kerry's way

of being a strong leftist but pretending to be a centrist, heh hes a good con.

[Davis_X_Machina]

14. Universal Catastrophic Coverage....

...everyone's on their own -- insured or not -- up to $50k, then gov't becomes insurer of record.

Brad DeLong, Berkeley econ prof and blogger, who worked on the Clinton plan, was generally positive on it....

[depakid]

19. Not quite

What's proposed is a reinsurance scheme that picks up 75% of catastrophic costs after the first 50,000.

It's not necessarily a bad idea, but I'm not convinced that insurers will pass along the savings to their purchasers.

[Myra]

15. Every time I hear him he talks about insuring coverage for kids

Screw the adults.

His health plan is completely lame, doesn't address
the scope of the problem at all.

I do like the fact that he points out that we should have access to
the same health care members of congress get, but he doesn't say how.

[Kazak]

18. Nope, he offered affordable healthcare.

Big difference, and frankly, I'll take it.

[Feanorcurufinwe]

20. What he said was that healthcare is a right, not a privilege.

And I think that is the main point, anyway. It is true, that Kerry does not have a plan that will deliver health care to all Americans. But he does have a plan that should significantly increase the number of Americans with access to health care, as well as lower the costs for those who already do have it. If, in winning that battle, we can make the case that healthcare IS a right, and not a privilege, we will have gone a long way towards winning the whole she-bang.

[DemBones DemBones]

21. He did say "health care is a right."

Maybe he can get it done. Look what LBJ accomplished. But Kerry has to avoid the trap that LBJ fell into: insisting on "staying the course" in an unwinnable war.