Health Insurance

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said workers' wages might be garnished to pay for health insurance under her health-care plan.

"We will have an enforcement mechanism," Clinton said today on ABC's "This Week" program. The New York senator said possibilities include paying for the program through the tax system and automatic enrollments, as well as "going after people's wages." Clinton said her plan would "enable everyone to afford" coverage.

Clinton has attacked Barack Obama for promoting a health plan that doesn't require universal coverage and portrayed herself as the Democrat with the best chance to win the presidency, as part of her closing arguments before primary and caucus voting in 22 states on Feb. 5.

"It would be a big mistake for Democrats to nominate someone who's already conceded on the issue of universal health care," she told reporters on her campaign plane while traveling to Arizona from California yesterday. "My strong advocacy for universal health care puts me in a much better position to take on John McCain."

Illinois Senator Obama has focused on lowering the cost of health care and opposes forcing Americans to pay for health insurance, saying that some people still wouldn't be able to afford it and mandates in states such as California and Massachusetts show that it doesn't work.

Clinton, 60, is seeking to sharpen distinctions with Obama before the "Super Tuesday" Democratic nominating contests this week. She said voters should look beyond the choice of the first woman or black to be elected president.

"Whichever one of us emerges, we will make history," Clinton told a few thousand voters yesterday during a rally at California State University in Los Angeles. "It's not just about making history in a symbolic way, it is about changing lives for the better."

Clinton and Obama, the two leading candidates for the Democratic nomination, are crisscrossing the nation ahead of Super Tuesday, when voters in states including New York, Massachusetts and Georgia will choose about half the delegates needed for the nomination.

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