Monday September 3, 2007, 3:48 pm

Edwards backs mandatory preventive care
By AMY LORENTZEN, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 2, 6:30 PM ET
TIPTON, Iowa - 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.
Edwards, who has been criticized by some for calling on Americans to be willing to give up their SUVs while driving one, acknowledged Sunday that he owns a Ford Escape hybrid SUV, purchased within the year, and a Chrysler Pacificia, which he said he has had for years.
"I think all of us have to move, have to make progress," he said. "I'm not holyier-than-thou about this. ... I'm like a lot of Americans, I see how serious this issue is and I want to address it myself and I want to help lead the nation in the right direction."
He said he would not buy another SUV in the future.
The Ford Escape, the first hybrid SUV on the market, gets an estimated 36 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway.

Monday September 3, 2007, 3:48 pm

I don't like the idea of forced health care. What happen to my right tochoose? What if I prefer natural medicine?

Monday September 3, 2007, 4:09 pm
NOTED!!

Monday September 3, 2007, 4:28 pm
Noted!

Monday September 3, 2007, 4:58 pm
I think this is a horrific infringement on my rights. I prefer alternative health care whenever possible, for myself and m children. I'm glad conventional medicine is there when I need it, but I rarely ever need it. This would make universal healthcare unnecessarily costly and absolutely invade a person's right to decide their own health care.

Monday September 3, 2007, 10:31 pm
Universal health care will be unnecessarily costly anyway if we allow the government to control it.

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 4:37 am
It will never happen...insurance companies make too much profit from the current system...and they CAN deny you coverage too for pre-existing conditions...THAT part RFEALLY sucks!

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 5:14 am
REQUIRE everyone to have preventative care? Well then I think everyone should be required to grow dandelions and other great natural herbs in their yard, and be required to go out and eat a handful of them every day! They'll have to drag me to the doctor kicking and screaming to get me to take any of their vaccines or use any of the drugs that they have. That isn't preventative care, in my opinion...it's the forced application of medical ways, including side effects and all that.

So tell me, what heppens if cancer is found during one of these forced mammagram screenings...Then is there a forced mastectomy to follow? I will abstain from voting if this is the best the democrats are able to come up with for us. As a matter of fact,,,I will move out of the USA. This is extremely upsetting to me.

Vibraceous, ND

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 9:23 am
Edwards messed up with that speech. Could he have given a bigger endorsement for Big Brother? Good lord.

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 10:56 am
Big Brother didn't take care of sick people. better go back and read your literature.

No one would be forced to do anything under Edwards plan. This is mere news spin taking John's words out of context.

Under the Edwards Plan:

Families without insurance will get coverage at an affordable price.
Families with insurance will pay less and get more security and choices.
Businesses and other employers will find it cheaper and easier to insure their workers.

The Edwards Plan achieves universal coverage by:
Requiring businesses and other employers to either cover their employees or help finance their health insurance.
Making insurance affordable by creating new tax credits, expanding Medicaid and SCHIP, reforming insurance laws, and taking innovative steps to contain health care costs.
Creating regional "Health Care Markets" to let every American share the bargaining power to purchase an affordable, high-quality health plan, increase choices among insurance plans, and cut costs for businesses offering insurance.
Once these steps have been taken, requiring all American residents to get insurance.
Securing universal healthcare for every American will require the active involvement of millions of Americans.

http://johnedwards.com/about/issues/health-care-overview.pdf

Join John at http://www.care2.com/c2c/group/Edwards08

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 12:39 pm
You can't force someone to do what they don't want to do -- even if it's for the greater good. Unless they are a health risk to others, or unless they are declared some kind of economic enemy of the state, I see this as just another way of trying to keep everyone happy. And when I say everyone I mean the insurance companies. : )

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 1:47 pm
noted...thanks

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 2:49 pm
Noted! I agree completely with what wk lawrence said. Thanks however for another side of the issue.

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 3:37 pm

"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

Required preventative care sounds like force to me. I agree with Vibraceous. I've been working very hard to move more to natural solutions and after a lot of reading and changing I have kept myself out of the hospital for 3 years which may seem like nothing for every day folks but this is like a record for me. I will add that I had No Help what so ever from my doctor who is highly recommended for his knowledge and achievements but told me that "diet would make no difference" I think I've proven him wrong and I have no wish to be forced back into that kind of care that sees no value in natural medicine or to be forced to accept treatment that I don't agree with.

Tuesday September 4, 2007, 11:29 pm
"The Edwards Plan achieves universal coverage by:
Requiring businesses and other employers to either cover their employees or help finance their health insurance. "

Sounds like big profits for the insurance companies, unless he is talking about "not-for-profit" insurance like Kucinich endorses.

Wednesday September 5, 2007, 10:29 am
I can think education is the best preventive care. How can people make good choices when pharmaceutical companies use fear to sell products? Just give me the facts! You have to ask for a doctors insert just to see statistics, and those statistics are very dubious because they come from the company that is trying to sell the product.

Wednesday September 5, 2007, 10:33 am
I'll ONLY GO ALONG with Edwards' plan if the insurance companies he selects will pay for my acupuncturist, my shiatsu massage therapist, and my Traditional Chinese Medicine physician or the Tibetan physician I've selected ... I'm thru with western medicine, its prescription drugs and its reliance on tests for diagnosis rather than the skill of a trained, experienced physician "backed up" by those tests.

I've had acupuncture and have been using TCM for 4 years and I haven't had a cold or the flu or been sick once ... that's 4 years of great health care and preventive "medicine" with NO PRESCRIPTION DRUGS and no radiology testing.

Wednesday September 5, 2007, 4:31 pm

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Thanks to everyone that took time to read comment and pass this story. I guess only time will tell what's going to happen but I'm hoping for the best and I will not vote for Edwards

Sunday September 9, 2007, 11:03 am
Edwards was my first choice until I did the research and changed my mind .Kucinich is much more in line with what I want to see in our government ,,,,by the people and for the people .His health car plan won't be in the hands of private health insuance companies .Read his proposals on health care.

Sunday September 9, 2007, 10:17 pm
Forcing all medical professionals to accept ALL insurance is one thing, but forcing people to go to the doctor & have tests they might object to is entirely something else! That could interfere with religious practices, personal preferences, and seems a bit too Bu$h-like in mandates for my comfort level.. ya screwed up on this one John.
I have to say it again: Kucinich is the ONLY REAL Democratic Candidate!

Thursday September 13, 2007, 9:41 am
Every time I hear the word "MANDATORY" it makes me cringe. Mandatory "anything" is the removal of our most critical freedom of choice. Right now we approximately 1 million citizens in jail or prison because of "ONE SIZE FITS ALL" ..MANDATORY sentencing. Even most judges hate it because it ties their hands of punishment to fit the crime. 3 times stealing a candy bar and 10 years in prison!! MANDATORY THIS!!! Thanks Rabbit. Noted