Clark Offers Health-Care Plan

Like Edwards, Clark would require every parent to purchase insurance for their children through age 22, while providing them with substantial federal assistance. Under the plan, children in families earning up to 150% of the poverty level (about $27,000 for a family of four) would enroll in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (known as CHIPs) at no cost. Both programs are state-federal partnerships, but Clark said his proposal would have Washington assume all the cost of the expansion.

For families earning up to about $90,000 a year, the plan would provide federal tax credits to cover much of the cost for insuring children who are not now covered. Families that now receive coverage for their children through their employer would be eligible for a smaller tax credit that would offset part of the cost of their premiums.

"In return for this assistance," Clark said, "it would become the responsibility -- indeed, the requirement -- of young adults and parents to enroll their children in a responsible health insurance plan."

He also would expand coverage for low-income adults without insurance. He would enroll uninsured adults earning up to about $13,775 annually in Medicaid or CHIPs, again without requiring states to contribute.

He would provide tax subsidies to pay for most of the cost of purchasing coverage for uninsured adults earning up to about $25,000 a year. Clark's plan would finance well over half the cost of purchasing insurance for those adults, a much larger share than President Bush would subsidize through tax credits he has proposed, according to Thorpe's calculations. And Clark would provide the subsidy to a larger pool of low-income workers than most of his competitors: Dean, for instance, would only subsidize health insurance for single adults earning less than $17,000.

Clark wouldn't provide uninsured adults earning more than $25,000 any subsidy, but like most of his rivals he would allow them to buy into the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which provides coverage for members of Congress.

In all, Clark's plan eventually would provide coverage for 31.8 million of the 43.6 million uninsured Americans, according to the analysis by Thorpe.

That would be roughly the same level of coverage as the plans offered by Dean and Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, about 5 million more than Kerry's, and roughly 10 million more than Edwards'.