Gore Again Attacks Bradley Health Plan

Vice President Al Gore renewed his criticism of presidential rival Bill Bradley’s health care plan Saturday, blasting it as an “unrealistic” proposal that would hurt many African Americans and Latinos. Bradley, in turn, called Gore’s criticism inaccurate and divisive.

Speaking before about 300 people in a Pasadena park, Gore attacked Bradley’s plan to replace Medicaid with a voucher system that would allow people to purchase their own insurance. African Americans and Latinos, who are more likely to use Medicaid, would feel the brunt of that change, Gore said, because they might not be able to afford private insurance despite government subsidies.

40 Million Americans Covered by Medicaid

About 40 million Americans rely on Medicaid, including one-third of African American children and nearly one-fifth of all Latinos, he said.

“If you eliminate Medicaid and replace it with vouchers . . . then you’re disproportionately hurting lower-income families,” said an energized Gore, his shirt sleeves rolled up as he spoke in the warm sunshine outside the Jackie Robinson Center. “I would call on Sen. Bradley to reconsider a program that has such a harsh impact on low-income and working families in this country.”

Bradley immediately released a statement disputing Gore’s criticism, arguing that Gore’s health plan relies on a system that already fails African Americans and does nothing to assist underinsured or working poor who are not eligible for Medicaid.

“This inaccurate attack is precisely the kind of thing that makes it impossible to get anything done in Washington,” Bradley’s statement said. “Scare tactics and divisiveness poison the atmosphere, alienate the public and create the kind of political paralysis that has left 44 million Americans without health insurance and millions more struggling to pay for it.”

The Bradley campaign said that, under his health plan, people on Medicaid would receive the same benefits as they do now but that they would have a greater choice of doctors and medical programs.

The plan is similar, Bradley said, to a proposal by the Clinton-Gore administration in 1994, which also called for overhauling Medicaid.

Gore also criticized Bradley’s plan for spending the entire budget surplus on the health initiative and other new programs without “saving one penny” for Medicare.

Bradley’s health plan, which he says would cost up to $65 billion annually, would ensure universal health care through full or partial subsidies.

Gore called his own plan--which is less extensive, aiming to cover all children--”the boldest new advance since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid.”

But the vice president’s attack on Bradley’s health care plan--one in a series of recent jabs at his rival’s proposal--did not seem to register with the enthusiastic crowd gathered to hear him speak at the center, which was decorated with welcome banners made by local schoolchildren.

“You would have to be a very active citizen to know the difference” between the two Democrats’ health care proposals, said Altadena resident Mary Traylor, 47. “But what Gore said here definitely hit it on the head. Health care costs are a big burden.”

Vicky Malone, a 32-year-old single mother of two, said Gore’s plan to cover all children resonated with her. She has to pay for her sons’ health coverage, a tab of about $120 a month. “It’s a tough thing. My children fall in that black hole because I work, so they can’t get Medicaid.”

Earlier in the day, Gore stopped off at a candidate forum hosted by Local 535 of the Service Employees International Union in Pasadena and reiterated his support for organized labor.

“You elect me president,” he told a boisterous crowd of about 100 union members, “and I guarantee there will be no anti-union legislation that ever crosses my desk.”

Gore Vows to Fight for Minimum Wage

At both campaign stops, Gore spoke of his commitment to raising the minimum wage by $1 to $6.15, passing a national hate crime bill and fighting for women’s rights.

“If we want one America, we’ve got to fight for it,” said Gore. “We’ve got to come together and support policies that lift up those left behind.”

In the evening, Gore attended a $1,000-a-head fund-raiser hosted by Danny Bakewell, a prominent developer and activist. The reception at Bakewell’s Pasadena home was expected to raise about $150,000 for Gore’s campaign.