Democratic Presidential Candidates Support Universal Health Insurance For Children

Democratic Presidential Candidates Support Universal Health Insurance For Children

Democratic presidential candidates former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) on Friday at an annual conference sponsored by the National Urban League said that they support universal health insurance for children, Long Island Newsday reports (Evans, Long Island Newsday, 7/28).

Atthe conference, Edwards said that he supports a universal healthinsurance system for all U.S. residents, adding that he would makechanges to the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. "Thesystem is rigged, it's broken," Edwards said, adding, "We will nevercreate one America until we fix the system" (Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/28).

Obamapraised the Harlem Children's Zone, a coalition of 15 community centersin upper Manhattan that provides health care, nutrition and otherservices to at-risk children (Long Island Newsday, 7/28).

Kucinichsaid that the U.S. could have used the $1 trillion spent on the war inIraq to fund a universal health insurance system. He added, "The moneyis there. The question is whether the will is there" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch,7/28). National Urban League President Marc Morial said that, althoughthe group invited Republican presidential candidates to the conference,none attended (Long Island Newsday, 7/28).

Health Care Professionals Contribute More to Democrats

Democratic candidates for the first time in more than 10 years havereceived more campaign contributions from health care professionalsthan Republican candidates, the AP/Wichita Eagle reports. According to the AP/Eagle,the shift has resulted because "Democrats now control Congress andDemocratic presidential candidates are raising more money than areRepublicans."

Jonathan Oberlander, a health care politics expert at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,said, "The health care industry wants to influence the majority inCongress, and ... they are reading the same tea leaves as everyone elsethat suggest the Democrats could have good results in the 2008elections" (Kuhnhenn, AP/Wichita Eagle, 7/29).

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