USATODAY.com – Plan isn’t a takeover, despite Bush claimsBy William M. Welch, USA TODAY

President Bush’s charge: Taking aim at one of the Democrats’ favorite issues, Bush charges that John Kerry’s plan to improve health care coverage amounts to a federal takeover of the nation’s health care system.

“A massive, complicated blueprint to have our government take over the decision-making in health care” was the way Bush described Kerry’s plan this week. It would, Bush said, “have bureaucrats become the decision-makers.”

Democrats’ response: Kerry structured his plan to extend health-insurance coverage to more Americans in a way intended to avoid just the charge Bush levels. He would make it easier for middle-income Americans to purchase private- insurance coverage and expand existing government programs providing coverage for children and the poor. …

Another view: Bush’s characterization of Kerry’s plan is a misrepresentation, said Jeffrey Lemieux, executive director of Centrists.org, a small bipartisan think tank that seeks moderate solutions to policy issues.

Kerry’s plan, he said, seeks to avoid the pitfalls of President Clinton’s failed 1994 health care plan, which was based on requirements that employers offer health insurance. Instead, Kerry would provide tax incentives for employers to offer health coverage to workers.

“They seem to have learned the lessons of the Clinton plan and not over-regulate,” Lemieux said. “It’s all voluntary.

“I really don’t see a government takeover here,” he said. “It’s still not a national health plan.”