I thought about trying to comment on Hillary's health care plan, but after reading what Ezra has to say, I think its probably best to let him handle the duties. So...go read this and this for specifics on the proposed policies.
As to politics, a few thoughts here:
Ezra's observation about the importance of framing is spot on, and it shows why Hillary's campaign is going to be very, very hard to beat. The rhetoric of her plan can be summed up in one word: choice. Not only does this strike directly at the heart of many of the heart of many of the problems with her last failed effort at reform, it also makes it much, much harder for Republicans to push back against her plan. In effect, she's trying to co-opt one of their biggest talking points, and if she's successful, it could reframe the entire debate. Color me impressed.
At the same time, her actions today have also highlighted one of the strength's of Edwards' campaign. Unlike Obama's team, who often seems strangely content to let others take the spotlight for a news cycle or two, the Edwards campaign seems increasingly willing and able to match his opponents move for move. Last week Edwards bought time on MSNBC to respond directly to the President on Iraq; today he came out swinging on health care with an interesting new proposal of his own. It's a clever strategy for someone currently sitting in second or third. Rather than fight to set the agenda you grant it to your opponent, framing yourself as a better alternative on whichever issue they might choose
Compare that to what Obama did today. Knowing that today would be Hillary's health care day, what did he do? He went to Wall St. to deliver a major address on values. The speech really was quite extraordinary, and on any other day I suspect it would have garnered considerable news coverage. But that's the problem: today isn't any other day, and as a result, I suspect his speech will largely go unnoticed. That's the sort of unforced error that someone currently running second or third simply cannot make.
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