2008 Democratic Debate in Cleveland: on Health Care

Barack Obama: Young adults up to age 25 can be covered under parents’ plan

OBAMA: Which is why I cover them.

CLINTON: Except when the illness or the accident strikes. And what Sen. Obama has said, that then, once you get to the hospital, you’ll be forced to buy insurance, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We ought to plan for it, and we ought to make sure we cover everyone. That is the only way to get to universal health care coverage. But if we don’t even have a plan to get there, and we start out by leaving people, you’ll never ever control costs, improve quality, and cover everyone.

OBAMA: With respect to the young people, my plan specifically says that up until the age of 25 you will be able to be covered under your parents’ insurance plan, so that cohort that Sen. Clinton is talking about will, in fact, have coverage.

Barack Obama: Hillary’s plan must either be enforced, or leave out people

Source: 2008 Democratic Debate in Cleveland Feb 26, 2008

Barack Obama: Universal health care means anyone who wants it can get it

OBAMA: Well, look, I believe in universal health care, as does Sen. Clinton. And the point of the debate, is that Sen. Clinton repeatedly claims that I don’t stand for universal health care. And, you know, for Sen. Clinton to say that, I think, is simply not accurate. Every expert has said that anybody who wants health care under my plan will be able to obtain it. President Clinton’s own secretary of Labor has said that my plan does more to reduce costs and as a consequence makes sure that the people who need health care right now, all across America, will be able to obtain it. And we do more to reduce costs than any other plan that’s been out there.

CLINTON: [Leaving out a mandate is the same as saying] that we shouldn’t try to get everyone into health insurance.

Barack Obama: Insurers are happy to have a mandate; issue is affordability

CLINTON: And under my plan, it is affordable because, number one, we have enough money in our plan. A comparison of the plans like the ones we’re proposing found that actually I would cover nearly everybody at a much lower cost than Sen. Obama’s plan.

Barack Obama: Voluntary universal participation, like in Medicare Part B

CLINTON: [Obama’s plan] would be as though Franklin Roosevelt said let’s make Social Security voluntary --let’s let everybody get in it if they can afford it--or if Pres. Johnson said let’s make Medicare voluntary. Now, if you want to say that we shouldn’t try to get everyone into health insurance, that’s a big difference.

OBAMA: I believe that if we make it affordable, people will purchase it. In fact, Medicare Part B is not mandated, it is voluntary. And yet people over 65 choose to purchase it, Hillary, and the reason they choose to purchase it is because it’s a good deal. And if people end up seeing a plan that is affordable for them, I promise you they are snatching it up because they are desperate to get health care. And that’s what I intend to provide as president of the United States.

Barack Obama: Mandating kids’ insurance ok; mandating adults has problems

OBAMA: I have no objection to Sen. Clinton thinking that her approach is superior. But we still don’t know how Sen. Clinton intends to enforce a mandate.

CLINTON: Sen. Obama would enforce the mandate by requiring parents to buy insurance for their children.

OBAMA: This is true.

CLINTON: If you have a mandate, it has to be enforceable. So there’s no difference here.

OBAMA: No, there is a difference. I do provide a mandate for children, because we have created programs in which we can have greater assurance that those children will be covered at an affordable price. But we don’t want to put adults in a situation in which, on the front end, we are mandating them, we are forcing them to purchase insurance, and if the subsidies are inadequate, the burden is on them, and they will be penalized. And that is what Sen. Clinton’s plan does.

Hillary Clinton: Include everyone, to avoid cherry-picking and its hidden tax

OBAMA: Sen. Clinton suggests that I want to leave 15 million people out. I dispute it, and I think it is inaccurate. The reason she thinks that there are more people covered under her plan than mine is because of a mandate.

CLINTON: The difference between Sen. Obama and myself is that I know, from the work I’ve done on health care for many years, that if everyone’s not in the system we will continue to let the insurance companies do what’s called cherry picking--pick those who get insurance and leave others out. We will continue to have a hidden tax, so that when someone goes to the emergency room without insurance-- 15 million or however many--that amount of money that will be used to take care of that person will be then spread among all the rest of us. In my plan there is enough money to provide the kind of subsidies so that everyone would be able to afford it.

Hillary Clinton: Without a universal mandate, it’s not universal health care

OBAMA: Well, look, I believe in universal health care, as does Sen. Clinton. And the point of the debate, is that Sen. Clinton repeatedly claims that I don’t stand for universal health care. And, you know, for Sen. Clinton to say that, I think, is simply not accurate. Every expert has said that anybody who wants health care under my plan will be able to obtain it. President Clinton’s own secretary of Labor has said that my plan does more to reduce costs and as a consequence makes sure that the people who need health care right now, all across America, will be able to obtain it.

Source: 2008 Democratic Debate in Cleveland Feb 26, 2008

Hillary Clinton: Bottom line is cost; mine is more affordable than Obama’s

CLINTON: And under my plan, it is affordable because, number one, we have enough money in our plan. A comparison of the plans like the ones we’re proposing found that actually I would cover nearly everybody at a much lower cost than Sen. Obama’s plan because we would not only provide these health care tax credits, but I would limit the amount of money that anyone ever has to pay for a premium to a low percentage of your income. So it will be affordable.

OBAMA: It is just not accurate to say that Sen. Clinton does more to control costs than mine. That is not the case. There are many experts who have concluded that she does not.

Hillary Clinton: Healthcare without mandate is like voluntary Social Security

OBAMA: I believe that if we make it affordable, people will purchase it. In fact, Medicare Part B is not mandated, it is voluntary.

Hillary Clinton: Obama’s plan includes mandate on 150 million parents

OBAMA: We still don’t know how Sen. Clinton intends to enforce a mandate. The question is, are we going to make sure that it is affordable for everybody? And that’s my goal when I’m president.

CLINTON: You know, Sen. Obama has a mandate. He would enforce the mandate by requiring parents to buy insurance for their children.

OBAMA: This is true.

CLINTON: If you have a mandate, it has to be enforceable. So there’s no difference here.

OBAMA: No, there is a difference. I do provide a mandate for children, because, number one, we have created a number of programs in which we can have greater assurance that those children will be covered at an affordable price. [But for adults, a mandate would] force them to purchase insurance, or they will be penalized. And that is what Sen. Clinton’s plan does.

Hillary Clinton: Many uninsured are young & don’t think they need coverage

OBAMA: Which is why I cover them.

CLINTON: Except when the illness or the accident strikes. And what Sen. Obama has said, that then, once you get to the hospital, you’ll be forced to buy insurance, I don’t think that’s a good idea. We ought to plan for it, and we ought to make sure we cover everyone. That is the only way to get to universal health care coverage. But if we don’t even have a plan to get there, and we start out by leaving people, you’ll never ever control costs, improve quality, and cover everyone.

OBAMA: With respect to the young people, my plan specifically says that up until the age of 25 you will be able to be covered under your parents’ insurance plan, so that cohort that Sen. Clinton is talking about will, in fact, have coverage.