September 28, 1999
Web posted at: 4:50 p.m. EDT (2050 GMT)

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Saying "big problems require big thinking," Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley outlined Tuesday a long-promised $65 billion plan for universal access to health insurance that would require parents to get coverage for their children and offers subsidies for families unable to afford insurance.

"Good health is a blessing, not a guarantee," he said. "But good health care is a right and it's up to use to ensure that right for every American."

The proposal is the first to take on the issue of universal health care since the Clinton-Gore Administration's doomed first term plan. In a speech to Los Angeles college students, Bradley said it was not right that kings and dictators can come to America and get the best medical care in the world while Americans two blocks away can't afford health care.

Former Sen. Bill Bradley

"The time has come to right these wrongs in our health care system," he said. "Health care is not a luxury."

Bradley said his different approach to health care is focused on the three stages of life, beginning with providing health care to every child in America. He called for offering full or partial premium subsidies to low-income families to pay for children's health care. Poor adults also would be eligible for subsidies.

"It's ironic in the midst of our great prosperity there are still 11 million children who go without medical care because their parents can't afford it," he said. "No devotion to the principle of personal responsibility allows us to blame the child whose parents can't afford to provide medical care."

For Americans between the ages of 19 and 64, Bradley said he wanted to make it easier to find and purchase insurance by allowing them to buy into the same health plan provided to members of Congress. Those who are satisfied with their current plans would not have to change, he said

Bradley's plan also would allow individuals of all ages and incomes to exclude from their taxable income whatever they pay for health premiums.

His plans would separately expand Medicare to provide senior citizens with an uncapped prescription drug benefit for catastrophic and chronic illnesses. Medicare also would provide a new public health system of integrated medical and social services -- such as housekeeping and transportation -- aimed at reducing on nursing-home admissions, he said.

The plan's annual cost was estimated by Bradley to be between $55 billion and $65 billion. It would be paid for out of the projected federal budget surplus, leaving the Social Security trust fund's surplus protected and reserved for the retirement program.

Bradley is Vice President Al Gore's only rival for the Democratic nomination. Bradley didn't mention Gore but took a swipe at the vice president, who has not yet provided cost estimates for any of his major policy proposals, including a narrower plan for health coverage of all children by 2005.

"A campaign proposal without a price tag is just another politicians promise," Bradley said.

Gore also has proposed giving senior citizens and self-employed people a 25 percent refundable tax credit for health insurance premiums if they do not have employer-based coverage. Gore aides have promised that the costs of his plans -- and how to pay them -- will later be revealed in the context of a balanced budget.

Gore policy adviser Elaine Kamarck said Bradley's plan was "wildly unrealistic" and "wildly expensive," singling out the proposal for tax deduction for premium costs for special criticism. "You're talking about giving Donald Trump tax deductions for his insurance premiums," she said.

Kamarck also said Bradley's plan does nothing to fortify the solvency of Medicare. "No place in there does he have Medicare protection. You need to lay aside a big chunk of money at the get-go for Medicare," Kamarck said.

Bradley has long promised details for his health plan. The former New Jersey senator is starting to provide details on what he has labeled his "big ideas" policy agenda. The health care proposal also comes at a time when polls suggest a tightening race between Bradley and Gore.

Bradley said Americans did not want a centralized system controlled by a massive bureaucracy, a reference to the failed universal health care plan proposed in 1993 by the Clinton Administration.

"But the problems that called forth that effort have not failed and it is time to try again but in a different way," Bradley said.

Bradley also emphasized that his proposal would not change the private health insurance system. "For those who are now insured and satisfied with their plans, nothing will change," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Tuesday, September 28, 1999

• New Hampshire sets February 1 primary date
• Arizona governor endorses Bush over McCain
• GOP negotiating budget bills
• GOP proposes health care legislation for nation's uninsured
• Bradley unveils $65 billion plan for universal health care
• Bush campaign cans biographer
• Cash-strapped D.C.races for Y2K finish line
• Michael J. Fox pitches Congress for Parkinson's research
• Former Senate leader predicts Kosovo independence
• ABC has some glitches with Internet news broadcast
• Doubts cast on Y2K preparedness of Medicare providers
• Times: Philip Morris backed commerce group that paid for Pataki trips
• Divorce lawyers want Gingrich ordered to answer questions
• Gore receives endorsements of Shaquille O'Neal and Bill Cosby
• California overhauls HMO oversight

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