Elizabeth Edwards calls health-care system immoral

In her first public appearance since August, when her husband's affair came to light, a poised and surprisingly healthy-looking Elizabeth Edwards spoke here last night on the need for major health-care reform.

Speaking knowledgeably and with dollops of relaxed good humor, Edwards told the audience of 200 people at the National Constitution Center that the current health-care system is immoral and "fails everyone except the extremely wealthy."

Seated onstage in a plush chair, the 57-year-old wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards used her experience as a patient with incurable breast cancer to illustrate lapses in the current system. But she was careful to say that the responsibility lies both with individuals, who need to take good preventive care, and insurance companies, which should be concerned with long-term health instead of short-term savings.

In a raspy voice, Edwards answered questions from moderator Jane Eisner, who recently left her post as vice president at the Constitution Center to become editor of the national Jewish weekly newspaper the Forward.

Except for one subtle remark about the "Republican vice presidential candidate's" opposition to stem cell research, Edwards maintained a relatively neutral political stance. Neither presidential candidate is proposing the kind of universal and comprehensive coverage that Americans deserve, she said. But of the two, Edwards said, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's plan, which would mandate coverage for children, will move the nation more in the right direction.

Republican Sen. John McCain, she said, "wants to take away the tax incentive for employers to provide insurance." Such a move, she said, would drastically increase the number of uninsured and dramatically drive up health-care costs.

"The problem with political rhetoric," she said, "is that everything sounds good."

Edwards noted that McCain has enjoyed terrific health-care benefits as a member of the nation's military under what is essentially the kind of single-payer system that so many fear.

McCain's four melanomas, however, constitute the kind of pre-existing condition that usually disqualifies people from private insurance, she said.

Both Edwards and her husband have avoided public appearances since he admitted a "liaison" with a woman who worked on his campaign in 2006.

The former North Carolina senator said he would remain off the national stage at least until Nov. 4 to avoid becoming a distraction during the campaign.

His wife of 31 years has steadfastly declined to discuss the affair.

Several people in last night's audience made a point of saying that in such a critical presidential race, they were more interested in policy discussions than soap-opera drama.

"I give her a lot of credit for all her accomplishments," said Rita Verbin, a Jewish studies teacher from Overbrook Park. "I just hope that she will take part in the administration of whoever becomes president."