Democratic presidential candidates are united in promising Americans universal healthcare coverage, but their views on how to pay for it differ significantly, reports The Washington Post. At a forum sponsored by the Service Employees International Union and the Center for American Progress Action Fund on Saturday in Las Vegas, the candidates spoke on how they would achieve healthcare reform. John Edwards, a former U.S. senator from North Carolina, had the only explicit proposal for universal coverage, stating that he would raise the $90 billion to $120 billion a year it would cost by increasing the taxes of those earning more than $200,000 a year. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, however, said his plan would require no new revenue because he would fund universal coverage by ending the Iraq war. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said only that her reform would fix a broken healthcare system, end “insurance discrimination,” and focus on insurance companies and others who “make out really well.” Most of the candidates said they would build on the current employer-based insurance system, but Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, said he would push for a single-payer system.
