Clinton says she is wiser now about healthcare

WASHINGTON - Senator Hillary Clinton defended her plan for universal healthcare yesterday and said she would not repeat the mistakes that doomed her effort to cover millions of people when she was first lady.

The New York Democrat, who is running for president, also pledged to vote against additional funding for the Iraq war unless most combat troops are able to come home.

Clinton, interviewed on five Sunday talk shows, sought to portray herself as a wiser and more humble leader who has learned from her mistakes and who would work to shed her image as a polarizing figure who would mire Washington in gridlock.

She laughed when asked whether the health care proposal she announced last week amounted to socialized medicine.

Deflecting criticism from her Republican and Democratic opponents, Clinton called it a "moral imperative" for the country to provide coverage for the estimated 47 million people without health insurance.

She said she regretted being unable to extend coverage in the early 1990s in a bruising political battle. "Since we weren't successful, we've seen millions of more people without insurance and many millions more who have insurance, except when they really need it and the insurance company tells their doctor or the hospital they won't pay for the needed treatment," she said on ABC's "This Week."