Corrida para a Casa Branca: saúde em primeiro lugar.

A postulação de candidato democrata para Casa Branca em 2008 está em três candidatos (Hillary Clinton, Barack Osama e John Edwards). Edwards lançou um plano corajoso para cobertura universal e, não teve medo em avisar que isso ocorreria com aumento de impostos dos mais ricos. Leia abaixo parte da reportagem do The Wall Street Journal de hoje.

Os republicanos também estão abordando o tema, como o Mitt Rommey, o ex-governador de Massachusetts. O tema será decisivo, porque o Iraque já dividi o eleitorado americano, mas a saúde pode atrair aos democratas votos tradicionalmente republicanos.

Edwards's Plan for Universal Coverage To Be Matched by Rivals By SARAH LUECK February 6, 2007; Page A4 WASHINGTON -- John Edwards's call for universal health care marks the opening volley in two debates facing Democrats running for president in 2008: How to provide health coverage to some 47 million uninsured people and what to do about President Bush's tax cuts. Many of the party's White House hopefuls, including Sens. Hillary Clinton (D., N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D., Ill.), say extending coverage to all the uninsured is a priority. Their focus on relatively sweeping health-care proposals matches escalating concern among voters and employers about medical costs and coverage. (See related articles on Medicare and the ways that plans to expand health coverage could impact the insured.) So far, Mr. Edwards has provided the most detail about how he would accomplish this, with the release yesterday of a plan requiring the government, employers and individuals to contribute to the cost of extending coverage to the uninsured. The former North Carolina senator and 2004 vice presidential nominee also has stated that tax increases for upper-income people would be needed to fund his plan, which aims to provide universal coverage by 2012. Specifically, he has proposed raising taxes for households with incomes of more than $200,000. That would essentially repeal some of the tax cuts shepherded by Mr. Bush. Mr. Edwards also would fund some of his health-care proposals by reducing the "tax gap," the amount of revenue the government is owed, but doesn't collect. "Yes, we'll have to raise taxes," Mr. Edwards said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." He said it is "the only way you can pay for a health-care plan" estimated to cost the government $90 billion to $120 billion a year. It remains to be seen whether voters will accept Mr. Edwards's vision of "shared responsibility," in which employers would have to help fund their workers' coverage and individuals would be required to purchase insurance, often with the help of new tax credits aimed at low-income and middle-class people. Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, would be expanded to cover more children and low-income parents. New regional "health markets" would offer comprehensive health-insurance plans to anyone who doesn't get insurance through their jobs or a government program. Some Democrats expressed surprise at the bluntness of Mr. Edwards's remarks in favor of tax increases, but many health-policy experts believe higher taxes would be needed to fund any serious attempt at universal coverage.