Edwards says doctor visits mandatory under his health care plan

Posted: Monday, September 03, 2007

TIPTON, Iowa (AP) -- Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards said on Sunday that his universal health care proposal would require that Americans go to the doctor for preventive care.

"It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care," he told a crowd sitting in lawn chairs in front of the Cedar County Courthouse. "If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK."

He noted, for example, that women would be required to have regular mammograms in an effort to find and treat "the first trace of problem." Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, announced earlier this year that her breast cancer had returned and spread.

Edwards said his mandatory health care plan would cover preventive, chronic and long-term health care. The plan would include mental health care as well as dental and vision coverage for all Americans.

"The whole idea is a continuum of care, basically from birth to death," he said.

The former North Carolina senator said all presidential candidates talking about health care "ought to be asked one question: Does your plan cover every single American?"

"Because if it doesn't they should be made to explain what child, what woman, what man in America is not worthy of health care," he said. "Because in my view, everybody is worth health care."

Edwards said his plan would cost up to $120 billion a year, a cost he proposes covering by ending President Bush's tax cuts to people who make more than $200,000 per year.

When asked about Pentagon spending and policies, Edwards said the nation must stop building more nuclear weapons.

"We need to stop that," he said, adding that building space-based weapons also should end because after spending billions of dollars on the program, there's no evidence it will work. Edwards pledged a different approach if he's elected.

"I want to be the president of the United States who leads an initiative to rid the planet of nuclear weapons, which is what I think we need to do," he said. "And, I don't believe that we can control nuclear weapons anymore."

He pointed to Pakistan as an example, calling President Gen. Pervez Musharraf a "dangerous leader" who is on unstable political ground. If Musharraf loses his power, a radical government could easily take over and have access to nuclear weapons, Edwards said.

He told reporters after the event that America should start paying attention to nonproliferation treaties.

"It's one of those things where America could, No. 1, lead by example, and No. 2, because of our stature in the world, (American could) help bring other countries to the effort, but it will definitely take time," he said.

On a recent ruling in Iowa where a Polk County judge ruled that the state's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, he said states should be in control of their own marriage laws.

"I don't think there should be a federal constitutional ban on it," he said.

Asked by a reporter about his comment in Florida this week that people should give up their sport utility vehicles because they're not energy efficient, Edwards said he owns a Ford Escape hybrid purchased within the past year, and a Chrysler Pacifica, which he said the family has had for years.

"I think all of us have to move, have to make progress. I'm not holier-than-thou about this... I'm like a lot of Americans. I see how serious this issue is and I want to address it myself and I want to help lead the nation in the right direction."

He said he would not buy another SUV going into the future.

Edwards was among other candidates stopping in Iowa leading up to the Labor Day holiday. He planned to attend events in Des Moines, Osceola and Chariton on Monday. Hillary Rodham Clinton, accompanied by her husband former President Bill Clinton, was also scheduled to speak in Sioux City and Des Moines on Monday. Barack Obama was expected to visit Iowa on Tuesday.