Bright Ideas from the Breck Girl

I haven't been too impressed with John Edwards so far. Lots of style, not much substance. But I found this entry at the TNR Primary interesting. I'm going to have to read his actual proposal closer, but I like the idea - With the privileges of citizenship comes responsibility.

But Edwards has an important wrinkle in his plan: He'd make insurance for children mandatory. Parents would be legally responsible for providing their children with insurance or obtaining government insurance if private coverage was unaffordable. To enforce the mandate--and extend coverage to kids who might fall through the cracks--hospitals, clinics, and schools would check for insurance in the same way they now check for routine childhood vaccines.

Taking this step--policy wonks call it an "individual mandate"--is important as policy because, done properly, it would mean Edwards gets closer to truly "universal" coverage for children than either Dean or Kerry, at least at the outset. (Gephardt's plan would probably do as well when it comes to insuring kids, since it has a mandate, too. The difference is that Gephardt's mandate is for employers, not individuals.) It's also classic Clintonian politics, because it emphasizes the responsibilities citizens bear in return for their rights to government-guaranteed benefits. As Edwards himself put it, "The only way we can tackle the health care problem is to ask for responsibility from everyone. Responsibility from parents to make sure their children have health care. Responsibility from government to help families get insurance and deal with the rising costs of health care."