U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin called Monday for a states-oriented
approach to address what she said is a faulty national health care system.

Baldwin appeared before a crowded lecture hall in the
University of Wisconsin Health Sciences Learning Center to discuss the health
care proposal she co-authored and why she endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for
president.

The Health Security for All Americans Act is a bipartisan
bill designed to provide federal support to states experimenting with different
methods of providing health care in the hope of finding a good model to follow
nationally, Baldwin said. Health care reform is important, she said, because
there are approximately 47 million people in the nation who do not have health
insurance.

Baldwin said she is currently in the process of finding
co-sponsors for the bill she called a ?glimmer of hope in a rather dismal
scene.? There are about 80 supporters in Congress so far, she said.

The Association of State Insurance Commissioners recently
endorsed the plan, she added.

Baldwin said she and the other authors spent about a year
and a half preparing the bill, and she has grown ?frustrated with the gridlock.?
She added she has been ?pushing really strongly for hearings? to get the bill
going forward.

UW medical student Jesse Coenen said he supports Baldwin?s
bill, adding it might be the only approach that could accomplish change.

?Nothing is happening at the federal level,? Coenen said.
?In reality, maybe there can?t be enough change at that level with respect to
the goal of universal health care.?

Baldwin added she was disappointed San Francisco?s attempt
at universal health care was ruled illegal by the courts earlier this year. She
said the federal government needs to encourage innovations.

?Federal regulations curtail innovations states are trying
to do,? Baldwin said.

Baldwin also supports Clinton?s universal health care plan
over the market-based reforms that involve creating health savings accounts or
Barack Obama?s near-universal plan. She said Clinton?s health care plan has
more potential than her former attempts at health care reform, which were
criticized for being too elaborate.

?She?s come a long way since her 1993 plan,? Baldwin said.
?She now has a plan I think she can get through Congress.?

However, Baldwin said no matter who wins the election this
year Congress will receive the charge from the president to reform health care.

Addressing questions from the audience, Baldwin also said
the government ?needs to be more creative about using policy to incentivize
prevention.? According to her, spending money now on preventing diseases will
save Medicare from spending even more money treating the diseases down the
road.

She added one way of doing this is to provide universal
health care because people with health insurance are ?much more likely to seek
proactive care.?

Baldwin also addressed the need for more funding for the
National Institute of Health and stem cell research. She said she has been ?a
very harsh critic of the president?s limits on embryonic stem cell research,?
adding ?we need to learn the most we can? from the controversial technology.