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Hutchinson health plan

IP gubernatorial candidate Peter Hutchinson released his health plan today.

He says he wants a Massachusetts-style mandate so that everyone in the state has health insurance either through an employer or a subsidized plan. Key elements of the plan include: a statewide smoking ban in public places, emphasizing prevention by rewarding people who exercise or quit smoking, raising the cigarette tax and cutting administrative costs.

He says the whole thing would save state and local governments $1.2 billion a year. He wants to make 2007 the health care session.