ASHINGTON - Tackling an issue that nearly wrecked the Clinton-Gore administration, Bill Bradley proposed a $65 billion-a-year health-care plan yesterday. It would require parents to pay for children's coverage and provide subsidies to the poor.
Bradley's plan is far different from the program President Clinton and Vice President Al Gore, Bradley's rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, tried to pass in 1994. The proposal, unveiled in a Los Angeles speech, had the effect of highlighting one of the biggest failures of his opponent's administration, while demonstrating Bradley's willingness to campaign to the left of Gore.
While Gore has proposed that children be given universal access to health care by 2005, the vice president's plan does not go as far as Bradley's proposal in covering adults. Some of the Republican candidates, including front-runner George W. Bush, have not yet said how they would help the 45 million uninsured Americans, while others such as Steve Forbes have suggested tax breaks as the main solution.
''When it comes to America's health, this is not the time to be timid,'' Bradley said. ''It requires bold action and a national commitment from the president on down to make certain that every American has what should be a basic birthright.''
Politically, the day was noteworthy for Bradley, who is on the cover of this week's Time magazine and has been the subject of speculation that he could beat Gore for the nomination. After months of saying he would campaign on ''big ideas'' such as health care, yesterday marked the first time Bradley spelled out a detailed proposal and its cost. He plans to deliver similar speeches soon on child care, poverty, and other family issues.
The Gore campaign yesterday scoffed at the enormous cost of Bradley's proposal and criticized the former New Jersey senator for failing to guarantee the survival of Medicare. But Bradley got a good reception for his plan from normally opposing sides of the health-care debate - the insurance industry and a leading consumer organization.
Most notably, officials of the Health Insurance Association of America, which ran the famous ''Harry and Louise'' ads that helped kill the Clinton health plan, spoke favorably about the Bradley plan, which presumably would help millions of new customers to buy insurance.
Officials said Bradley consulted frequently with the HIAA in an effort to develop a plan that would win the backing of the health-insurance industry. ''Bradley has taken a step forward,'' said Dean Rosen, the HIAA's general counsel.
Similarly, Families USA, a health consumer organization that has been at the forefront of the fight for universal coverage, applauded Bradley's plan. Ron Pollack, the association's executive director, said Bradley's plan is more sweeping than the one proposed by Gore, but Pollack said the lower cost of the vice president's proposal could make it more acceptable to Congress.
Bradley's plan would put the initial responsibility for children's health insurance on parents, with the government providing subsidies only if adults are deemed too poor to pay for it. For example, a family of four with an income less than $32,000 would receive a full, $1,200-per-child subsidy to pay for a federally approved health-care plan. The subsidies would decrease on a sliding scale and would be fully phased out for families with an income above $49,200.
Adults would also be eligible for subsidies, but would have to meet lower income guidelines, with subsidies phased out for those earning above $32,800. Those paying health insurance premiums out of their own funds would be allowed to deduct that amount from their income for tax purposes.
In addition, Bradley proposed providing prescription drug coverage for senior citizens, costing $10 billion; revamping the Medicaid system, which currently is partially financed by the states; and allowing anyone to enroll in a health-care program used by federal employees.
Bradley stressed that his plan would expand the current system, not replace it. ''For those who are now insured and satisfied with their plans, nothing will change,'' Bradley said in the speech at Los Angeles Valley College.
It is far from clear whether such an expensive program would ever get through Congress. Bradley would use the budget surplus generated during the Clinton-Gore administration to help pay for his program, with some of the costs absorbed by eliminating waste in the current system.
Elaine Kamarck, who is advising Gore on domestic policy, criticized the proposal saying, ''The numbers simply don't add up.''
While Kamarck said ''there is nothing bad in this plan,'' it does nothing to solve ''the most basic problem ... the solvency of Medicare.'' She said she could find nothing in the plan that would pay the $374 billion, 10-year cost of saving Medicare, though Bradley's Web site says the plan ''preserves Medicare.''
