EDITORIAL – Universal health care plan necessary

It seems that the first round for Hillary Clinton’s universal health care plan wasn’t… It seems that the first round for Hillary Clinton’s universal health care plan wasn’t decisive.

The presidential candidate vowed recently to offer the voters a universal health care plan if she is elected president. Although she failed to specifically identify what that plan would be, she said that “I want the ideas that people have” and that she would seek voter input when she becomes president.

However, Clinton isn’t the only candidate offering up universal health care to voters. John Edwards has also presented an interest in universal health care, but unlike Clinton, his plan is detailed. While Clinton offers generalities, Edwards hopes to require employers to either cover or pay into a fund that would provide health care for employees. He also hopes to make the government instrumental in setting up a “competitive heath care market” and coming up with more choices for consumers, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Clinton’s plan is all well and good, but it might be better for all of us if she actually came up with a plan before pitching the benefits of a system that would require intense planning and oversight on her part. We are in full support of a universal health care system in the United States, but we need something more specific from candidates. Perhaps Clinton is just trying to make up for the shortcoming of the heath care reform she failed to initiate during her time as First Lady. If so, she’s not getting our vote just yet.

Clinton told The Washington Post that “The number of uninsured has grown,” and that “It’s hard to ignore the fact that nearly 47 million people don’t have health insurance, but also because so many people with insurance have found it’s difficult to get health care because the insurance companies deny you what you need.”

The voters need to recognize that the United States is seriously behind other developed nations in providing health care for their more disadvantaged citizens. Others nations have shown that these types of systems can work and by ignoring the problem we are only making things worse for us and for future generations.

This issue is especially important for graduates who are increasingly forced to make difficult decisions when it comes to employment. Getting health insurance with an entry-level job is becoming more and more difficult for young people and eventually many people will be forced to choose between the basic needs in order to pay – or not pay – for the insurance that will keep them healthy and working. Often the allure of heath care packages is enough to lure graduates away from some jobs in favor of others.

Candidates in the upcoming elections must understand that universal heath care is more than an attractive buzzword for voters. We want to see that you are giving it serious thought and consideration and that you’re willing to help us. Clinton should have come up with a more concrete plan for universal health care in the United States before throwing the term around.

Americans are tired of empty promises, and if Hillary Clinton is going to be the president, she’d best keep all the promises she makes.