Clinton stumps at Iowa State Fair, talks consumer protection
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By Dan Gearino | Wednesday, August 15, 2007 |
TODAY: (Updated 12:58 p.m.) WAUKEE, Iowa — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton laid out plans today to improve consumer protection for the elderly, including expanded investigation of insurance scams and criminal background checks for home health care workers.
"The good news is we're living longer and we're living healthier lives," she said. “But we still have to figure out how we're going to get our system to catch up with what is the reality of life today.”
Clinton, a New York senator, spoke in the band room at Waukee High School in the western suburbs of Des Moines.
She mixed policy proposals with some of the themes of her new television ad, in which she says vulnerable Americans are invisible to the Bush administration.
"I want you to know that you're not invisible to me," Clinton said.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino fired back Tuesday, calling the ad "outrageous" and "absurd," according to a transcript.
Clinton's plan includes the following elements:
* Increased enforcement of fraud and abuse of the elderly.
* Heightened consumer protection standards for insurance companies.
* A requirement that insurance policies be written clear language.
* Criminal background checks for home health care workers.
In addition to the consumer protection initiatives, Clinton said she would expand the Medicare prescription drug program to eliminate the so-called "donut hole" of coverage limits.
Under the current system, consumers get benefits up to a certain level, then the benefits end at an intermediate level, only to kick in again at a higher level. The in-between level with no coverage has been nicknamed the donut hole.
Clinton was joined onstage by Pat Torpey of Adel who told about her experience buying long-term care insurance for herself and her husband. Her husband has since been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and cancer, but they have gotten no benefits because of a stipulation in the fine print of their policy.
"Something is very wrong with the system — very, very wrong," Torpey said.
Clinton is on a two-day swing through the state at a time when national polls show her leading the Democratic field, although she is in a close race in Iowa with John Edwards and Barack Obama.
The packed house today included some high-profile Clinton supporters, such as former Gov. Tom Vilsack, his wife, Christie, and Ruth Harkin, a member of the Iowa Board of Regents and wife of Sen. Tom Harkin.
Dan Gearino can be contacted at 515-243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.
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