Thursday, 21 June 2007
John Edwards Details His Universal Healthcare Plan
Democratic presidential hopeful and former North Carolina Senator John Edwards laid out the details of his universal healthcare proposal in a campaign trip to Detroit, Michigan.
Edwards explained that his universal healthcare plan would cost between $90 and $120 billion annually. He would fund the plan, in part, by repealing President Bush’s tax cuts for people with incomes of over $200,000.
Employers would also help fund the program by paying a tax equal to 6% of their payrolls if they don’t provide health insurance for their employees.
To reduce prescription drug prices, Edwards will ban long-term patents for pharmaceutical companies who develop new medications. By providing cash incentives for other companies to produce the new drugs, Edwards hopes to introduce more competition and bring down prices.
Edwards also addressed the healthcare problems of the Big Three auto companies in Detroit. Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler spend billions of dollars per year for their employees’ and retirees’ health coverage.
“Here in Detroit, the cost of health care is particularly crippling for business,” said Edwards at Detroit’s Riverside Health Center. “These businesses and their unions made a promise to workers, and now it’s time for the government to hold up its end of the bargain and lower health care costs.”
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