February 20, 2008  

Sen. Clinton And Barack Obama Continue To Support Single-Payer, Washington-Run Health Care System

• When Asked By A Yale Medical Student If She Would Support Single-Payer Health Care System, Sen. Clinton Said "Yes." Yale Medical Student: "'Would you sign [a single-payer healthcare program] if it came across your desk?' ... She said yes, and shook my hand." (Marcella Bombardieri, "Would Clinton Sign A Single-Payer Bill?" The Boston Globe's "Political Intelligence" Blog, www.boston.com , 2/6/08) .

• In 2003, Obama Was A "Proponent Of A Single-Payer Health Care Program." Obama: "I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer health care program. ... A single-payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that's what I'd like to see." (Laura Meckler, "Let's Go To The Video," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" Blog, www.blogs.wsj.com, 1/22/08)

• Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) Was A "Proponent" Of Single-Payer Health Care; He Now Says He Would Only Support It If "Starting From Scratch"Obama: "[I] never said that we should try to go ahead and get single payer. What I said was that if I were starting from scratch, if we didn't have a system in which employers had typically provided health care, I would probably go with a single-payer system." (Sen. Barack Obama, CNN's Democrat Presidential Debate, Myrtle Beach, SC, 1/21/08)

What Does Single-Payer Health Care Mean For You?

• Single-Payer Health Care Would "Use Taxes To Provide Health Insurance" And Allow Government To "Own Hospitals And Employ Doctors." "Under a single-payer system, the federal government would use taxes to provide health insurance for all Americans, much as it does for senior citizens in Medicare. There are variations; a more extreme version would have the government own hospitals and employ doctors, like it does through the Veterans Administration." (Laura Meckler, "Tempering Health-Care Goals," The Wall Street Journal, 1/25/08)
  
  
• "[A] Single-Payer System, Where ... The Government Would Be The Sole Payer Of All Medical Bills, Eliminating The Role Of Private Insurance Companies." (Laura Meckler, "Let's Go to the Video," The Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" Blog, www.blogs.wsj.com, 1/22/08)
  
  
• Los Angeles Times' Ron Brownstein: "[T]he idea of the federal government completely replacing the private health insurance industry is so far outside the American experience that even the vast majority of health reform advocates consider it politically dead on arrival for the foreseeable future." (Ronald Brownstein, Op-Ed, "The Plague Or The Cure?" Los Angeles Times, 7/1/07)
  
  
  

  

  This Week’s Note From Jo Ann:

  Health care will be one of the key issues in this campaign, especially with women voters. I thought these “Talking Points” would be helpful when you are talking with other women. As you know, women make the majority of health care decisions for their families and I believe they will have numerous questions on where the Democrat candidates stand on a government-controlled system.

  Click here for the complete archive of the Co-Chairman's Talking Points