Presidential candidates Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on Thursday spoke at health care forums in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Families USA and the Federation of American Hospitals. Summaries of their comments appear below.

Biden: Biden said that the "biggest distinction" between his proposal to extend health coverage to all U.S. residents and those of other Democratic candidates is that his plan would reimburse employers, health insurers or associations for 75% of catastrophic health care costs, a provision that he said would reduce costs (Kapochunas, CQ Today, 10/25). In addition, he said that the proposal would not require U.S. residents to obtain health insurance (Goldstein, "Health Blog," Wall Street Journal, 10/25). According to Biden, the debate about whether health care is a "right or a privilege" no longer exists. He added that "we need a national health care system of some kind that shares the responsibility of providing health care for everyone" for the U.S. to remain competitive globally (Kapochunas, CQ Today, 10/25). However, Biden said that his proposal would exclude undocumented immigrants, except in emergency cases (Montanaro [1], "First Read," MSNBC.com, 10/25).

Kucinich: Kucinich said that he is the only candidate "who is talking about a single-payer, not-for-profit health care system," which he called "Medicare for all." Kucinich promoted a bill (HR 676) he has introduced in the House with Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) that would establish a publicly financed and privately delivered health care system funded through the elimination inefficiencies in the current system and an increase in the Medicare part of the income tax from 1.45% to 4.75% (Horrigan, CQ Today, 10/25). According to Kucinich, the legislation would include undocumented immigrants (Alexovich, "The Caucus," New York Times, 10/25). He said, "One of the things we have to decide here is, is health care a right or is it a privilege?" adding, "If it's a right, then it's appropriate for the government to have a role in facilitating that right" (Horrigan, CQ Today, 10/25). In addition, Kucinich said that the health care proposals offered by other Democratic candidates are no different than plans offered by Republican candidates (Montanaro [2], "First Read," MSNBC.com, 10/25).