April 1, 2008 (Page A7)

By Kristen M. Daum

kristen.daum@newsday.com

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton promotes health care as a top focus of her presidential bid, but her campaign's accountants aren't staying on message.

The campaign reported nearly $300,000 worth of unpaid health insurance bills for campaign staff as part of $8.73 million in debts, Federal Election Commission records show.

The New York Democrat's campaign fund owed $229,000 to Aetna Healthcare and $63,000 to CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Enhanced Coverage LinkingCareFirst BlueCross BlueShield for unpaid premiums as of Feb. 29, the latest data available in federal filings.

Clinton spokesman Jay Carson said the campaign has now paid those debts in full and that no staffer suffered a gap in coverage. The campaign offers medical coverage to employees, spouses, partners and children.

"Sometimes invoices are not paid immediately because we need additional information for our records, or to verify expenses," Carson wrote in an e-mail. "The campaign pays its bills regularly."

The lag in paying insurance bills is a sign of a bigger issue facing the Clinton camp - namely, February's $8.7 million debt.

Clinton is being heavily outspent by rival Sen. Barack Obama, and she already loaned her campaign $5 million.

For February, Obama had $625,000 in debt, and presumptive GOP nominee Sen. John McCain reported $1.3 million in debt, excluding a $3 million bank loan his campaign said is paid off.

The health care debts, first reported by Politico.com, follow media reports of vendors complaining about late payments from the Clinton campaign.

Carson said bills to CareFirst were paid monthly, but no payments were made to Aetna in January or February, though he didn't say why.