Gov. Bill Richardson [D-NM] on Tuesday fleshed out his $100 billion national plan for universal health care, which contains a few unique features but fails to set him far apart from the other Democratic presidential candidates, according to one analyst.

“I think it’s a very sensible plan, but it doesn’t differentiate him from the pack,” Leif Wellington Haase, director of New America Foundation’s California program and former health care fellow at The Century Foundation, said in a telephone interview.

The New America Foundation supports universal coverage for the nation, with an ongoing but government-regulated role for commercial insurance companies. This approach seems to be rising to the top; all but one Democratic presidential candidate (Dennis Kucinich) is proposing public-private hybrid solutions.

“This is a very good proposal,” Haase said of Richardson’s solution, unveiled in Iowa. “The key thing is that all the Democratic candidates are proposing ambitious, serious, honest health care plans. And I think that is more important than the specific details.”

Richardson’s platform won’t please people who want European-style socialized medicine. His universal health care proposal revolves around choice for the American public without raising taxes. He would create “affordable” options by letting working families buy the insurance plan that members of Congress enjoy, expanding Medicare for Americans in the 55-64 age group, building on existing programs for the poor and allowing children to piggyback off their parents’ coverage for a longer period of time.

Every American would be required to obtain coverage -- but pay 10 percent less for private coverage.

“Like John Edwards, he has mandated individual coverage in his plan, which Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton haven’t included,” Haase said...

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