Vermont Governor Dean Calls for Repeal of Bush’s Tax Cut to Fund Universal Health Care

Presidential candidate and Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) on July 21 reiterated his desire to roll back the Bush administration's $1.3 trillion tax cut in order to fund a universal health system, the Boston Globe reports. Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Dean said, "If you repealed most of the president's tax cut, half of that could be used, and every American could have health insurance." Dean advocates a universal health system that builds on Medicare, Medicaid and employer-based health coverage (Milligan, Boston Globe, 7/22). Under Dean's "three-part plan for national health care," which he says would be paid for in part by rolling back the tax cut, states would provide health coverage to all residents ages 22 and younger. States' costs would be offset by a plan to relieve them of any financial responsibility for Medicare beneficiaries who are also eligible for Medicaid. Dean's plan also calls for adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and expanding the current employer-based health coverage system by offering health insurance subsidies to small businesses, the self-employed and part-time workers (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/12). On "Meet The Press," Dean acknowledged that most Americans would not want to relinquish their tax cuts, but he said that many would give back the "few hundred dollars or the $20 or $30" they received through the tax cut if they were promised "decent roads, decent schools and a decent health care system" (Boston Globe, 7/22).