Hillary Clinton Tackles Health Care

Hillary Clinton released the following statement on health care on Wednesday. John Edwards has appeared to take the lead on health issues in the last week. Following on from his call last Friday at the DNC, Edwards released his plan for universal health coverage on Monday.

Clinton, who has long been seen as a leader on health care, will no doubt be speaking more about the issue in coming weeks.

Washington, DC -- In response to today's formation of the "Better Health Care Together" campaign, Hillary Clinton released the following statement praising the coalition's announcement:

"The worst kept secret in America is that the health care system is not working for the vast majority of people in our country. Costs are spiraling out of control, already high premiums are getting higher and health care is getting further and further out of reach for millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans. Universal health care is not only a moral and health imperative, but an economic and jobs imperative as well.

"I have learned from experience that we cannot achieve the goal of health care for every American if we don't have buy-in from employers, government, and labor. Today's announcement by America's largest employer and some of America's largest unions, along with organizations from across the political spectrum, is one more piece of evidence that there's broad agreement that Americans deserve a health care system that covers everyone and lowers costs.

"Passage of a universal health coverage plan will be one of my top priorities as President. It is time for bold yet practical solutions and I will use today's encouraging news to continue my efforts to build support for universal health care."