Which Gubernatorial Candidate Truly Offers Universal Kid Care?

As I mentioned earlier when talking about the races this year, I am totally open to conversations/corrections, or what have you with the campaigns themselves. Shortly after posting my comparison of the kid's health care plans from the two Gubernatorial candidates I had a sit down meeting with an acquaintance who worked on the Perdue health care plan. While I consider this person a friend and he was very helpful in learning and discussing the state of health care in North Carolina - I'm still undecided, impartial, and not 100% satisfied with either candidate's ideas.

That said, there are several things I would like to talk about related to children's health care, which are positives for the Perdue campaign. And, there is one thing I would like to talk about which is a negative (for me, not for everyone) for the Perdue campaign.

First things first. Although these campaigns have been slinging-the-mud, this conversation had none of that. It was very much based on what Perdue was doing right, not what Moore was doing wrong.

The first thing that Perdue is doing right is offering a sliding scale program for kids above 300%.Richard Moore's health care plan cuts off his plan at 300% of poverty as defined by the federal government. Unfortunately, we have another 60,000 children who are uninsured that come from families which make over 300% of the poverty level. Of those, we have:

I wondered how those numbers compared based on percentage. For instance, are those kids uninsured over 300% a small percentage? Do their parents have the resources but don't believe in buying insurance?

So, the percentage of kids uninsured in the 300% to 400% range is identical to the percentage of kids who are uninsured in the 200% to 300% range. Obviously, these aren't people who are making it and choosing not to have health care for their kids. Richard Moore makes the following observation.

Another 38,000 come from working families earning between 200% and 300% of the federal poverty guidelines. These families are struggling to make ends meet and simply cannot afford coverage. The remaining uninsured are in families with incomes above three times the federal poverty guidelines, but have not purchased health insurance for their children.

That phrase is read by me as meaning that everyone over 300% can afford health insurance, we aren't going to help them. I would argue that at the very least 400% is where one would want to make that assumption - if at all.

Second, to give Perdue her due, although I have problems with the underlying premise of her plan (see below), she is not afraid of the word "universal". From her plan we find the following uses of the word, some of which I like, the first of which pisses me off.

Maybe in some far-off utopia, someone can simply draw up a plan for universal coverage on paper and expect it to somehow just happen.
...
1. Universal Coverage for Children. The next step for expansion of health coverage in North Carolina is clear: we need to extend the full coverage umbrella to encompass all children in our state.
...
2. The Challenge of Covering Uninsured Families. The fourth and biggest step toward universal coverage for children involves extending coverage to their parents.
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I am thrilled that after all these years of our hard work a consensus in our state is finally emerging in favor of universal coverage for children.
...
When that 125,000 boost in parent coverage is combined with the extension of a universal coverage umbrella for our 250,000 to 300,000 currently uninsured children, we will have covered over 400,000 of our currently uninsured population.
...
By that time, we may be greeted by a new day in Washington with serious action on the universal coverage front for all uninsured adults.

Man, that first quote still pisses me off. But, okay, there is something good for the Perdue campaign, they are not afraid to up the ante and say they will make assistance available for kids above the 300% poverty level and they are not afraid to talk about Universal Health Care...most of the time.

It still sticks in my craw, this quote.

Maybe in some far-off utopia, someone can simply draw up a plan for universal coverage on paper and expect it to somehow just happen.

That is followed later in the roadmap proposal by this quote.

I believe North Carolina’s progress in these early days of the 21st century can be measured by how far we travel down the road to affordable and quality health care for all our people. That is why North Carolina’s next Governor must be committed to that goal regardless of what happens or does not happen in Washington.

Are you familiar with weasel words?

The problem I have with this language, with this idea of pursuing "what we can get away with", but not truly universal health care, is this. It gives away the moral high ground.

Folks, we are right on this issue. Every man, woman, and child deserves health care, not health insurance - but HEALTH CARE. They deserve to have preventive care, they deserve to have a family doctor, they deserve to be treated like a human being, and they deserve to have all of this without losing their house or having to choose between food and medicine.

We. Are. Right.

So, it sickens me to see candidates that I will have to vote for weaseling around this subject, unwilling to come out with their heads high and to fight for what is right, not what is easy. It reminds me of the way I tell the Three Little Pigs story to my kids. In my version, the mother pig tells the baby pigs that nothing good ever comes easy; and, that you have to do the right thing, even if it means a lot of hard work.

Why am I not supporting either of these candidates right now? Because they aren't willing to do the hard work of fighting for what is right. Can we blame Beverly Perdue for wanting to play it somewhat safe? Certainly not as safe as she could play it, but can we blame her for not wanting to become "Hillary Perdue" and to have her health care plan labeled "Beverly Care"?

Yes. We can. Because that is what Democrats have been doing for as long as this writer has memory, playing it safe. I'm sick of it. We watch Republicans attack gays, attack African-Americans, attack anyone with brown skin. We watch them demean the mentally ill, we watch them throw children into the bin while proclaiming themselves "Pro-Life". And, what do we do?

We play it safe. Well. I'm sick of it.

Richard Moore gets no pass from me on this either. Draw the analogy for me Mr. Moore, who gets thrown under the bus and who doesn't? Does a family that makes 500% the poverty rate but is self-employed with preexisting conditions qualify for your help? Not based on your plan. Not even if the premium BCBS is offering is $3000 a month, just for the father with preexisting conditions?

If our candidates want to propose ONE THING that is bold, here it is.

No preexisting conditions. Promise to outlaw the practice of fixing rates based on preexisting conditions. One pool, everyone pays, everyone is insured.

Both candidates used the word "bold" to describe their plan. Let me summarize my feelings on this issue.

1. Beverly Perdue offers coverage assistance to more children than Richard Moore.

2. Beverly Perdue is willing to take ownership of the words Universal Health Care, if not the ideal.
3. Both of these candidates will make fine governors, better than any Republican.
4. Neither of these candidates has offered a plan for children that is "bold".

In the near-future I will be doing another write-up on these plans. You see, the roadmaps that have been released count on NC Kids Care, which doesn't really exist yet, and S-CHIP, whose funding has not been finalized. Additionally, these plans have different premium/copays that we need to compare. So, when the bills have been paid and the numbers released, I'll come back to this issue.