Feingold pushes universal health coverage at campaign kickoff

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Cap Times Article http://www.madison.com/captimes/news/stories/74959.php
By David Callender
May 24, 2004

MIDDLETON - U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold today kicked off his bid for a third term by unveiling a proposal to guarantee health coverage for all Americans.

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His proposal would require all states to offer health care plans that provide at least as much coverage as the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, the so-called "Cadillac plan" that covers all members of Congress.

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He said he could not estimate how much the proposal would cost, in part because each state's plan would be different. But he said the plans could include:

Expanding existing Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Plan programs to covered the uninsured, such as parents of children already in the program or low-income adults who do not have children.

Providing refundable, advanceable tax credits for individuals so they can purchase health insurance.

Providing similar tax credits to businesses to help cover the cost of health insurance.

Establishing community-wide health insurance pools.

Providing tax incentives to businesses to provide health insurance.

Creating individual or multi-state insurance pools.

Establishing statewide single-payer insurance systems.

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As I'm self employed, health care is a big issue for me. I'm looking forward to seeing more on this issue from Feingold and Kerry. But the last thing I'm looking for is a mandated lining of the insurance companies' pockets. I fear that is where this is heading as well.