I understand why any candidate this far from an election wants to stay hazy about numbers, whatever the subject.

But no health plan is more than warm words which doesn't come with paperwork: not only to show due diligence on the part of the campaign, but (mostly) to allow the rest of us (in particular, healthcare experts) to check that the proposal is not pure snake oil.

Better still, there ought to be some kind of open-source model for us Great Unwashed to work the numbers. (Duelling quotes from experts who themselves are skimpy on paperwork are no help, except for propaganda.)

Without assurance on the numbers, a paper like Obama's is all Zeno's Paradox for all we know.

We'll seeing as he just spoke today and hasn't released the details on his site yet there isn't much I can do to break it down for y'all.

Here is something sent from the campaign though.

"Here are some highlights from Barack's health care speech today.  We'll have more info on the website soon.

   * Barack Obama believes it's time to make quality affordable health care a reality for every American. For too many years, we've seen health care plans offered up with great fanfare and promise, only to be crushed under the weight of Washington politics and industry lobbying. This cannot be one of those years.

   * The health care crisis has reached a critical point. It's not just that forty-five million Americans are uninsured. It's that those who do have health insurance are struggling to pay for it because health care premiums have risen nearly 90% in the past six years, four times faster than wages.

   * Businesses aren't faring much better. Over half of all small businesses can no longer afford to insure their workers, while others have responded to rising costs by laying off workers or shutting their doors. Some of our biggest corporations are watching foreign competitors based in countries with universal health care run circles around them.  

   * The biggest obstacles to reform are the drug and insurance companies who profit most from the status quo. Recently, the single fastest growing component of health care spending has been administrative costs and profits for insurance companies, who have spent more than $1 billion on lobbying and campaign contributions over the last ten years to block the kind of reform we need.  

   * As President, Barack Obama will turn the page on yesterday's health care debates and bring together businesses, the medical community, and members of both parties around a comprehensive solution to this crisis. And he'll let the drug and insurance industries know that while they'll get a seat at the table, they don't get to buy every chair.  

   * Barack Obama will sign a universal health care plan into law by the end of his first term in office. His plan will not just guarantee coverage for every American, it will bring down the cost of health care and reduce every family's premiums by as much as $2500.

   * When Barack Obama is President, everyone will be able buy into a new health insurance plan that's similar to the one that every federal employee - from a postal worker to a Congressman - currently has for themselves. And if you cannot afford this insurance, you will receive a subsidy to pay for it. If you have children, they will be covered.  If you change jobs, your insurance will go with you.  If you need to see a doctor, you will not have to wait in long lines for one.  If you want more choices, you will also have the option of purchasing a number of affordable private plans that have similar benefits and standards for quality and efficiency.  

   * We'll also take five, long-overdue steps to bring down costs and bring our health care system into the 21st century. First, the federal government will pick up the tab for some of the most expensive illnesses and conditions, which means your premiums will go down.  Second, we'll focus our health care system on preventing costly, debilitating conditions in the first place by requiring coverage of evidence-based, preventative care services, and making sure they are paid for.

   * Third, we'll reduce the cost of our health care by improving the quality of our health care. We'll ask hospitals and providers to collect, track, and publicly report measures of health care quality so that patients can make informed choices about the care that's best for them.  

   * Fourth, we'll reduce waste and inefficiency by moving from a 20th century health care industry based on pen and paper to a 21st century industry that's paperless, reducing deadly medical errors, shortening the length of hospital stays, ensuring that nurses can spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients, and saving billions and billions of dollars in the process.  

   * Finally, we'll break the stranglehold that a few big drug and insurance companies have on the health care market. Under Barack Obama's plan, we'll make generic drugs more available to consumers and we'll tell the drug companies that their days of forcing affordable prescription drugs out of the market are over.  And we'll investigate and prosecute the monopolization of the insurance industry. "

than Hillary is....

 although only Edwards has so far shown willingness to generate a new revenue stream for it...

There really aren't a lot of substantive divides on major issues between the Democratic candidates.  Not to mention, it's not like there's a zillion different options for a health care plan.  I would expect the plans to be fairly similar.

Also, usually the candidate(s) with the most specific plans lose the primary, so there's thought to be a built-in disadvantage.  Bill Bradley comes to mind...

Ezra Klein has a take on it.

So... under Obama's plan everyone wouldn't have coverage?

It'll be interesting to see if commenters like yitbos96bb will have the same take on this as they did on the Edwards plan.

Even if there were some kind of prize for having exclusivity on an idea on how to fix health care, wouldn't it be best if good ideas were implemented, no matter who it is that reaches the finish line first?

Aside from that, Obama's plan is the most realistic thus far, which may prompt some to say it isn't good enough. I would argue though that if someone can push a better plan through Congress while Obama is President, do you really think he won't sign it if it reaches his desk? Lets not get too crazy with this...of course I may be overlooking who I'm responding to.

Here's a pdf the campaign released now

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/HealthPla nFull.pdf

I've got to go now but I'm going to print it out and study it and give my thoughts later.

what a hit piece on Obama...Umbelievable..The dude didnt even read the plan before he posted this anti-obama B.S....Also, is it fair to suggest this guy supports Edwards?..Hillary??..anyone??..hahahahah aha..Those haters.

she was working on UHC before Edwards or Obama were even in the Senate.

And Edwards' plans are all original? give me a break.