ANCHESTER, N.H. - Democratic presidential candidate Bill Bradley, acknowledging he has thrown ''raw meat into a cage of wolves'' by outlining a detailed health care plan, yesterday bristled at criticism of the proposal by Vice President Al Gore, calling Gore's assertions ''ridiculous.''
''He is just wrong,'' Bradley said in an interview, delivering his first public response to Gore's criticism of the plan. On Monday, the vice president said the Bradley proposal would eliminate Medicaid and threaten the solvency of Medicare.
In defending his $65 billion-per-year health care plan, Bradley underscored the challenge he faces as he tries to outline a series of specific, costly proposals while fending off attacks about the details.
Bradley, shown an article outlining Gore's criticism of his health care plan, bristled at the vice president's remarks, saying Gore was misrepresenting the proposal.
''We're not taking away anybody's Medicare,'' Bradley said. He said that he would detail his proposal on Medicare later this year, and emphasized that his plan would provide additional prescription coverage for senior citizens.
He also accused Gore of misstating his position on Medicaid. ''We're replacing it,'' Bradley said.
Later yesterday, Bradley continued to defend his health care plan in an appearance at the Manchester Community Health Center, near Gore's campaign headquarters. Bradley met with doctors at the clinic who told one story after another about the difficulty of finding treatment for uninsured patients, a setting intended to highlight the benefits of Bradley's plan to provide coverage for nearly all uninsured Americans.
Bradley also appeared last night at a town meeting in Bedford attended by about 300 people, many of whom enthusiastically supported him.
The health care plan is the first of many detailed family- and health-related proposals that Bradley intends to announce. Today, in a speech in Peterborough, Bradley plans to unveil proposals that would help families balance work and home life, including a ''senior corps'' program that would pay senior citizens to mentor young people.
Bradley, the former US senator from New Jersey, has devoted considerable time to New Hampshire, the first-primary state, where polls have shown him virtually tied with Gore. It is these polls that persuaded Gore last week to reorganize his campaign, moving the headquarters to Nashville and challenging Bradley to a series of debates.
While Bradley has not agreed to the debates, both Democratic candidates are scheduled to appear at a ''town meeting'' in New Hampshire later this month.
