AP: Edwards announces details of health care overhaul plan
June 14, 2007
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards said his proposal to overhaul health care would save families up to $2,500 annually by supplementing patents for certain breakthrough drugs and requiring insurers to spend more of their premiums on patient care.
The former North Carolina senator unveiled details of his universal health care proposal during an appearance Thursday at the East Riverside Health Center, a federally funded community clinic on the city's east side.
"Dealing with the health care crisis is about more than just about coverage," Edwards said. "Our health care system is entirely too expensive. We put more money into health care than any country in the industrialized world and we get one of the worst products out in the other end."
His proposal would offer cash payments to companies that produce certain breakthrough drugs instead of awarding long-term patents. Edwards said offering the financial incentives would spur the production of cheaper generic and other versions of drugs designed to treat or cure diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.
The drugs would be identified by a panel of experts.
Ken Johnson, senior vice president for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said that while he was still reviewing the proposal, patent rights provide drug makers with critical incentives to support research and development.
"Health care proposals offered by members of Congress and presidential candidates should strengthen _ not weaken _ the current patent system so that patients can access new medicines to help them win their battle against disease," Johnson said in a statement.
Edwards' plan also would require health insurance companies to spend at least 85 percent of the premiums they collect on patient care and require them to compete in regional health markets with other insurers and with an expanded federal Medicare program.
Edwards said he studied other nations' health care systems but determined the U.S. wasn't ready for a single-payer, government-run system.
"I wanted the American people to have a choice between private versus public," he said. "And let's see what happens over time."
The former trial lawyer first announced his plan to provide universal health care in February. About 47 million people currently lack health insurance in the United States.
The plan has faced criticism, in part because it could cost an estimated $90 billion to $120 billion. Edwards would finance the bulk of it by more aggressively pursuing revenues, such as unreported capital gains taxes, and by eliminating tax cuts enacted by President Bush for those who make at least $200,000 annually.
"It's ironic that Edwards is proposing to turn our health care system into something like the department of motor vehicles," said Chris Taylor, spokesman for the Republican National Committee. "The massive tax increase that would be required to pay for Edwards' government-run health care plan (is) the last thing that Michigan's economy needs."
Edwards' plan would offer incentives to improve preventive and chronic care and promote the use of technology by health care providers to save $130 billion in administrative costs. It would also offer financial aid to help recruit and train 100,000 more nurses nationwide to fill shortages.
Fellow Democratic presidential hopeful and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has proposed to provide health care to millions of Americans and more affordable medical insurance, financed by tax increases on the wealthy.
And New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, another Democratic front-runner, also prescribed universal health care as a way to help U.S. automakers and other manufacturers during a campaign appearance last weekend in Detroit.
Clinton pushed a universal health care plan during the 1990s when her husband, Bill Clinton, was president, but the plan went nowhere.
Edwards said Detroit, where General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group are saddled with $16 billion in annual health care costs and $114 billion in future retiree benefits, is indicative of health care ailments felt nationwide. All three automakers have called for sweeping health care reforms.
"I think the environment has changed," Edwards said. "I think you'll find a lot of big businesses who support the idea of a more efficient, more universal health care system."