Description

Executive Summary

In 1992 Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas unseated

incumbent President George H. W. Bush in part by

tapping voter dissatisfaction with the rising cost of

health insurance and the growing number of

Americans without health insurance. Despite a

massive legislative campaign directed by then-first

lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Clinton administration's

sweeping proposal to increase federal

control over the health care sector languished and

eventually died in Congress. Today, with health

insurance costs once again rising at double-digit

rates and the number of uninsured Americans at a

new high, the Democratic candidates for president

have lined up their own health insurance reform

proposals. The major candidates are Army Gen.

Wesley Clark (ret.), former governor of Vermont

Howard Dean, Sen. John Edwards (NC), Sen. John

Kerry (MA), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH), Sen. Joe

Lieberman (CT), and Rev. Al Sharpton. Before leaving

the race, Rep. Richard Gephardt (MO) also put

forward a major health care proposal.



Unfortunately, the candidates' health plans

reflect the same misconceptions as and rely on

approaches similar to those of the failed Clinton

health plan. Like the Clinton health plan, they

misdiagnose what ails the health care sector;

would attempt to direct the provision of health

care from Washington, DC, through increased

taxes, government spending, and bureaucratic

control; and would magnify the perverse incentives

created by past government interventions.

Like that of the Clinton health plan, their

response to the use of unconstitutional government

power in the health care sector is to wield

even more unconstitutional power.



The five major candidates early on in the 2004 race (Clark, Dean, Edwards, Kerry, and Lieberman) would each have taken incremental steps toward a government-run health care system. The two long-shot candidates in the race (Kucinich and Sharpton) would have taken a more aggressive approach, calling for an immediate government takeover. Although Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) disappointed many Democratic Party faithful by forgoing a race for president this year, judging by the health care proposals in the field of contenders, her influence is being clearly felt.