Sunday, September 16, 2007

Clinton Readies Her U.S. Health Plan as Pitfalls Loom

Subtitled: Not content with being the butt of every healthcare joke on the planet, Ms Rodham tries her hand at it once more...

Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- "Hillary Clinton, offering a new prescription for providing all Americans with health-care insurance, is seeking to avoid a repeat of her first, failed bid to revamp the system.

While Democratic presidential rivals John Edwards and Barack Obama released health-care plans several months ago, the issue is more complex for the senator from New York.

Clinton's previous effort gives her a voice of authority on health-care coverage now, with 65 percent of Americans in a July Gallup poll expressing ``a great deal'' or ``a fair amount'' of confidence in her on the issue. That's more than any other White House contender. At the same time, it evokes memories of the bureaucracy-laden, 1,342-page proposal that critics still call ``Hillarycare.''

Clinton's fervor all but guarantees another titanic fight over health-care issues. ``When you put out a comprehensive plan, you put a big target on your back,'' says Drew Altman, president of the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation.

``The history of health-care reform in this century is that proposals were either too big or too small,'' said Karen Ignani, executive director of America's Health Insurance Plans, successor to the organization that sponsored Harry and Louise. It is not likely the industry would find the Clinton plan to be just right.

``It's a risk for her, but a risk she has to take,'' said Doug Badger, a Washington lobbyist and formerly Bush's senior health policy adviser.

A risk? Ms I Know Everything ABOUT Healthcare? The risk is of course in her childish approach to most everything she touches. Look for several pages to contain detailed information concerning "the size of the boo-boo need be determined before administering medical assistance."

It'd all be one helluva joke if it weren't so pitiful.

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