Health Care as Issue

The idea of reforming the U.S health care system may have been beaten down in the early years of the Clinton administration, but it's back and gaining strength as a top issue for the 2004 primaries and election.

Recent television ads in Eastern Iowa (and I agree with my NH PenPal James Farrell that radio and newspaper political ads for the Democratic candidates don't exist at this point) for Sen. John Edwards have been hitting hard on the need for national health care reform.

Another clue was in the televised presentations of six candidates before the Iowa AARP last Wednesday. Oct. 15 (although I wonder how many Iowans switched from the Cubs game on Fox to Iowa Public Television to watch this). Dean, Edwards, Kerry, Kucinich, Braun, and Gephardt all vowed to preserve or improve Medicare benefits and bring health care coverage to more Americans. Kucinich and Braun (who don't have any TV ads in rotation, no doubt because of their low campaign funds) go the furthest by endorsing a complete overhaul, with a single payer system. Both seem to have gotten very hearty applause for their positions.

Of course, this is the AARP they were talking to, presumably a group of people interested in prescription drug and health care costs. But, this issue is more than a cheap appeal to the age 50+ demographic. In fact, since the Clintons proposed health care reform a decade ago, health care has only gotten more expensive for Americans. Look at the main reasons for disputes in labor contract negotiations, and you'll find that the issue is typically about rising health care costs and who will pay for them.

This could be a huge issue for 2004, particularly if our post-war (post the "official" war, that is) Iraq policy become less of an issue. All of the Democratic candidates present at the AARP forum propose repealing the entire Bush tax cuts, or at least the parts for the highest income brackets (most of the cuts, mind you) to pay for health care reform. If Bush defends his tax cuts to the death, it gives him little wiggle room to offer anything on health care except more PR spin.

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Something to think about: When the AARP sets up a televised candidate forum, you'd expect all of the candidates to show up. So, where were Lieberman, Sharpton, and Clark? Lieberman and Sharpton have scarcely been in Iowa, and Clark has been here a few times, but no TV ads yet that I've seen. You might expect Lieberman and Sharpton to be here to help their flagging campaigns, and Clark to be here to personally introduce himself to Iowa (according to recent news, as "The GOP View" PenPal Eric Woolson notes, he really needs to do this).