Clinton Touts Health Care Plan To 5 Voters

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton explained her health care plan to five voters around a dining room table Monday, saying insurance companies should face the same kind of federal regulation as companies that sell stocks and bonds.

With about two dozen reporters crammed in another room, Clinton outlined her universal health care plan, which would provide tax credits to make insurance more affordable and require business to offer insurance to workers or pay into a pool for people without it. The New York senator and presidential hopeful also would expand Medicare and the federal employees' health insurance plan to cover those without adequate workplace insurance.

Clinton said the patchwork of state regulations insurers now face hasn't worked and allowed them to get away with offering meager policies and to move to states with more favorable rules. She said the federal government should regulate them more, but states still would be able to enact their own regulations.

"We can't do this state by state," she said. "No state has the ability to get everyone in their state to get the insurance they need."

Clinton's host was Judy Lanza, a nurse who said it was only because of her medical background that she noticed a $4,000 mistake in her husband's surgery bill last year. They fought the insurance company, she said, but she worries about others who wouldn't know where to turn.

"I feel bad for the people out there who have no health care background," she said.

Clinton repeated a statistic she cites often - that insurance companies spend $50 billion a year figuring out ways to avoid paying claims.

"This is all part of their business model. This is how they make money, but it's so bad for the rest of us," she said. "I say to them, use the $50 billion to actually take care of people," she said.

Suzanne Blanchfield, a 59-year-old teacher who has diabetes, said she has good health insurance now that reimburses her well for taking steps to prevent her disease from worsening. But she said she is concerned about losing that insurance when she retires.

"I'll have a pension, but a pension only goes so far," she said.

Clinton said Blanchfield's situation illustrates the need to ensure health insurance plans are portable rather than dependent on someone's job situation and the importance of requiring insurers to cover preventive care.

Earlier Monday, Clinton was endorsed by Dr. Susan Lynch, a pediatrician who is married to New Hampshire's Democratic governor.

Lynch, a childhood obesity activist, said Clinton's commitment to fighting for children and families help make her the best choice for Democrats and the country. She will be a national co-chairwoman of Clinton's presidential campaign.

"I have personally gotten to know Hillary. And as I watch and listen to her campaigning across New Hampshire, I see a candidate who has the right experience, commitment to bipartisanship and a passion to lead," she said, standing next to Clinton at a news conference in Concord.

Lynch works at Concord Hospital in a program to control cholesterol in children. In 2004, she was a member of "Doctors for Dean," which supported former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean for president.

"As first lady, a pediatrician and most importantly, a mother, I do not give my endorsement light heartedly," Lynch said.

Clinton said she looked forward to having Lynch only a phone call away when she needs advice on health policy matters.

"Susan wears many different hats, she said herself, as a physician, as first lady, as a mother," said Clinton. "Democrats and Republicans alike have come to respect Dr. Lynch, who embodies that problem solving commitment that I admire so much."

A spokesman for Gov. John Lynch said the governor will remain neutral.

Clinton's focus on health comes as she and her closest rival in New Hampshire, Sen. Barack Obama, spent the weekend criticizing each other's health care plans. Obama focused on Clinton's proposal to require that people buy coverage and said she hasn't been straight with voters about "how much she would fine people if they couldn't afford insurance."

He called that another instance of political maneuvering on Clinton's part, but Clinton said Obama was trying to justify the fact that his plan would leave 15 million people uncovered.