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Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Fact Check: False and Misleading Comments from the Obama Campaign About Hillary's Health Care Plan

February 23, 2008

Today an Obama spokesperson released the following statement: "And [Hillary Clinton] herself has said that under the Clinton health care plan, she would consider "going after the wages" of Americans who don't purchase health insurance, whether they can afford it or not."

This is false and misleading. Hillary has never said she would make Americans purchase health insurance they can't afford -- The Obama campaign is taking her words out of context in an effort to mislead voters and the press.

First, Hillary's plan contains more generous subsidies than the Obama plan. As a result, independent experts -- including Emory University's Ken Thorpe -- have concluded that, under Hillary's plan, everyone would be able to afford coverage.

Second, Hillary has consistently said she would consider a range of ideas to ensure everyone was covered, including automatically enrolling people who use hospitals and other government services, and working with employers to enroll uninsured employees and go after a small portion of their wages to cover the cost of healthcare. This is similar to the withholding structure that many employees use for their 401(k)s.

Third, while criticizing Senator Clinton, Senator Obama himself has said he would fine parents to enforce his mandate on kids and would fine sick people if they don't get health care coverage until their sick.

Details here.

Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Fact Check: False and Misleading Comments from the Obama Campaign About Hillary's Health Care Plan Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/296841

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