More than 100 college journalists participated in a nationwide conference call with Elizabeth Edwards, health care advisor to the Obama-Biden campaign.

Edwards, wife of former senator and vice presidential and presidential candidate, John Edwards (D-N.C.), emphasized the importance of young voters and their relationship to health care policy.

“Young people think that health care doesn’t actually involve them; they’re young and healthy,” she said.

She said that the current health care system is broken, and the participation of student reporters in the call “means you know how important it is to fix [it].”

She reported that currently, 13.7 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 lack health coverage.

Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden plan to set up a more universal health care system, allowing citizens to choose to have the same health coverage as members of Congress.

“Under the Obama-Biden plan, young adults would get their own affordable health care coverage through a new insurance exchange,” Edwards said.

Such a plan, she said, could lower health care costs for students who currently do not have access to any coverage.

She emphasized that the Republican ticket, John McCain and Sarah Palin, would tax health benefits and allow insurance companies to cross state lines, decreasing some of the obligations such companies may have without such a privilege.

The McCain campaign Web site does report that the Republicans’ plan involves a refundable tax credit for taxpayers interested in coverage outside of the current employer-based system.

For DU College Republicans Chairman Kevin Poyner, this is where the McCain plan better fits the needs of young people.

“Part of the problem with government-mandated health care is that it is basically designed to have young people our age, who are relatively young invincible, pay for everybody else,” he said.

While Edwards said that the Obama plan actually lowers health care costs for young people, Poyner feels that the McCain plan helps students out more financially.

“It gives money to people our age that better suits our needs. We can get along with a whole lot less coverage than older Americans,” he said.

A comparison of the two full plans can be found online.

To read more about these issues and decide which plan best suits college students, visit www.barackobama.com and www.johnmccain.com.