Another Look at Presidential Politics–Predictions for the Workplace–Hillary on Healthcare

We continue our somewhat deeper look at presidential politics with a prediction about Senator Clinton’s impact on heathcare should she be elected President.

Hillary Clinton’s failed effort to reform healthcare when she was First Lady seemed to make her reluctant during the early stages of the presidential campaign to talk about this subject the way one would have anticipated. Of late, that has changed.

Senator Clinton has repeatedly endorsed universal healthcare and has repeatedly said that she is the only candidate to advocate a universal healthcare system. Although there may be more public support now than when she was First Lady for this kind of proposal, whether there is the political will in Congress to pass legislation that would require universal coverage is still up in the air.

One of the most significant points of her plan from an employment standpoint is that she wants a law that requires employers to help pay for all employees to be covered. Specifically, she would require large employers either to provide health insurance to their employees or to contribute in a significant way to the cost. Small employers would receive a tax credit for continuing or beginning to provide health insurance coverage to their employees.

The devil being in the details, the senator hasn’t clearly stated the difference between large and small employers. She has also not been clear on how much of the total cost large employers would be required to contribute.

Given her efforts as First Lady and her ramped up rhetoric on this subject during the past few weeks, it seems likely that she is the candidate who would push the hardest for universal healthcare coverage, not only for all employees, but for all citizens. If this were to be accomplished for the workplace, it’s reasonable to assume that the cost will have to be shared by employers and the federal government. Since this would be a huge cost, it also seems reasonable to assume that taxes would have to be increased or that some significant rearrangement of current federal spending would have to occur to fund the increased cost of universal healthcare. Senator Clinton has argued that at least part of the cost could be funded by savings that would occur from a curtailment of the Iraq War.

It’s quite likely that the legislation required to compel employers to help pay the overall cost will result in a fierce Congressional battle, with numerous compromises necessary for such legislation to have a chance of passing.

If Hillary becomes President, universal healthcare is likely to be one of her first priorities.

1. 

   John Phillips says:

   March 9, 2008 at 1:20 pm

   Thanks for the mention.