Edwards On Health Care, Again

I wanted to take a minute and note this post by Paul Krugman from his blog for a couple of reasons. The first is because it’s refreshing (and a bit shocking, actually) to watch him call out fellow Times writer Kit Seelye on her reporting of the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama health insurance proposals (with Krugman highlighting the absolutely absurd claim by Seelye that the AEI is somehow “nonpartisan”).

The second is because the Seelye article quotes an adviser to the Obama campaign who states that Clinton has not come up with a means of penalizing those eligible for coverage who do not enroll.

Actually, Krugman himself noted that John Edwards had come up with an idea on that here…

…John Edwards has just called Mr. Obama's bluff, by proposing that individuals be required to show proof of insurance when filing income taxes or receiving health care. If they don't have insurance, they won't be penalized - they'll be automatically enrolled in an insurance plan.

That's actually a terrific idea - not only would it prevent people from gaming the system, it would have the side benefit of enrolling people who qualify for S-chip and other government programs, but don't know it.

For more information on this and other proposals from the Edwards campaign, click here.