Clinton Endorses Health Care Plan, Wrong One

Both the plan and the Clinton. No, Hillary was not talking about health care in California, unfortunately. It was Bill who spoke at a health care symposium and endorsed Arnold's health care proposal. KCBS:

Former President Bill Clinton voiced enthusiastic support for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s healthcare reform plan and said he will do everything he can to help it pass. [snip]

"As an individual, the most important thing you can do right now, living in California, in my opinion, is to do everything you possibly can to pass the reforms that the legislature and Schwarzenegger are working on, even if it's not perfect," said Clinton.

He added that if California passes the plan, the rest of the nation will have to sit up and take notice. It could even jumpstart a national campaign for universal health coverage, he said.

I actually agree with Clinton, if California passed the Schwazenegger plan, it would be national news. He has pushed forward significant changes, though many are flawed. It would change the national discussion on universal health care, just like AB 32 did to global warming.

There was some movement on health care legislation in California in the last to days, of course it was not on the Arnold plan. That would be impossible, seeing as though no legislator has actually introduced it in bill form. Instead it was Sen. Sheila Kuhls SB840 and Assm. Dave Jones' AB1554 making their way through the legislative process.

Yesterday, Jones' proposed regulation of health insurance rates passed through its first committee test. Hundreds of people packed the hallways in support of Kuehl's single-payer bill. Speaking of crowds, there were some big ones in support of Its OUR Health Care yesterday. Randy has some great coverage and pictures.