John Edwards' Universal Health Care Plan Would Make Regular Checkups Mandatory

TIPTON, Iowa (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care.

"It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care," he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. "If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK."

He noted, for example, that women would be required to have regular mammograms in an effort to find and treat "the first trace of problem." Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, announced earlier this year that her breast cancer had returned and spread.

Edwards said his mandatory health care plan would cover preventive, chronic and long-term health care. The plan would include mental health care as well as dental and vision coverage for all Americans. "The whole idea is a continuum of care, basically from birth to death," he said.

The former North Carolina senator said all presidential candidates talking about health care "ought to be asked one question: Does your plan cover every single American?""Because if it doesn't they should be made to explain what child, what woman, what man in America is not worthy of health care," he said. "Because in my view, everybody is worth health care."

Edwards said his plan would cost up to $120 billion a year, a cost he proposes covering by ending President Bush's tax cuts to people who make more than $200,000 per year.

Editor's Note: Come on, Mr. Edwards. Making preventive care mandatory means there has to be a coinciding penalty. So what is it, sir? A fine, jail time, time out sitting in the corner? This is 'big brother' at its best. Get real, John. You live in a far left-wing fantasy world. What we Americans really need to do is personally address the causes, not the symptoms, of this situation. It starts with us looking long and hard in our respective mirrors and asking the questions: "What can I do to keep health care "affordable"? Lose weight, exercise more, stop smoking and excessive drinking, learn to deal with stress without medication? Do I not have health insurance by choice because I wanted a bigger car, a bigger house or I just blow money without a household budget? If I am eligible for Medicaid or S-Chip, why haven't I signed up? Too easy to go to the ER and get it free and not pay? Asking these questions of ourselves is a good start to understanding the real problem of healthcare in this nation, Mr. Edwards.