05/09/2008

By JULIA SILVERMAN  / Associated Press

Trying to make her case to Oregon voters Friday, Sen. Hillary Clinton said her position on universal health care sets her apart from rival Barack Obama.

"The plan I have proposed would cover everyone, children and adults," Clinton said during her second Oregon stop in two days. "My opponent's would not."

Clinton is hoping to keep her bid for the Democratic presidential nomination alive with a come-from-behind win in Oregon's May 20 primary.

Obama was also in Oregon on Friday, making stops in Beaverton, Albany and Eugene, along with a planned Saturday visit to Bend. Political analysts predict an Oregon victory for Obama; his campaign manager said that after the May 20 vote, Obama will have won "a majority of the overall pledged delegates," essentially securing the nomination.

At Doernbecher Children's Hospital, the shivering crowd of parents, sick children, nurses and doctors waited for Clinton, who began speaking an hour later than expected.

"If you don't start in favor of universal health care, you'll never get there," Clinton told the audience. "How can you run for the Democratic nomination and not have a universal health care plan?"

Clinton and Obama's stances on health care are similar, but there are some subtle differences.

Clinton's plan recalls auto insurance mandates; under it, all Americans would be required to purchase health insurance, which would be underwritten by employers and the government. She's said the costs of such a system could be covered by eliminating tax cuts for households earning more than $250,000, plus by finding savings in the current system.

Obama wants to require that all children have health insurance, and has said the country should "aim" for universal coverage. He has also called for eliminating tax cuts for wealthier households to offset the costs.

Speaking to the difference between the two plans, Obama has previously said that Clinton wants to "force" everyone to purchase health insurance, while he prefers to emphasize reducing costs, so more people can afford coverage.

The issue has particular resonance in Oregon, which was one of the earliest states to experiment with offering government-subsidized health care coverage to the working poor, who made just enough not to qualify for federal coverage. That experiment, known as the Oregon Health Plan, has since been scaled back due to budget cuts, leaving about 600,000 people in the state without insurance.

Then, in November of 2007, Oregonians voted against raising taxes on cigarettes in order to fund an expansion of children's health insurance programs, after tobacco companies spent millions on TV ads railing against the plan.

Shawna Dron-Gentert, who brought her 11-year-old daughter Rebekah to hear Clinton speak, said their family had been disappointed by the cigarette tax vote.

Rebekah has bronchiectisis, a rare lung disease that killed her father when he was in his late 30s. The sixth-grader from Donald had no health care coverage until two weeks ago, when her federally funded disability insurance was approved, her mother said.

"My biggest concerns is what will happen when my kids grow up, how will they manage when they are not my kids anymore, if they don't have quality health care or the ability to pay for it," said Dron-Gentert, who called herself an undecided voter.