The White House
Health Care Reform Today
October 27, 1993
Today, President Clinton will introduce the most
detailed, comprehensive, and responsible health care
reform proposal ever offered. No other proposal
matches the President's as a clear and specific plan
for action. This detailed plan will allow an honest
debate and will allow the American people to judge
how it will help their families.
Our national goal must be health security --- to
guarantee every American comprehensive health
benefits that can never be taken away. The debate
must be wide-ranging. The goal is non-negotiable.
President Clinton's Health Security Plan guarantees
every American comprehensive benefits that can never
be taken away, preserving quality and choice --
without turning the system over to the government.
Universal coverage must be real: this isn't just
about access -- people have universal access today if
they have enough money, and millions of Americans do
not. Comprehensive benefits must mean a specific set
of benefits clearly defined up front, not a bare
bones package created after legislation is passed and
threatened by cuts.
The President has made changes in the plan
mainly in two areas: first, to ensure the most
responsible financing and second, to minimize
regulation in a health care system that relies on the
private sector. The President's plan relies on the
most conservative estimates and responsible
financing, ensuring that we achieve savings to
finance reforms. Changes streamline bureaucracy and
limit regulation to ensure that this is a system
rooted in the private sector that responds to market
forces.
Many who criticize details of the President's
plan do so in good faith. They share a commitment to
reform and health insurance coverage for every
American. But many opponents are simply trying to
protect their pocketbooks and position in the current
health care system. The President's plan has earned
the support of seniors, pediatricians, family doctors
and nurses, pharmacists, consumer advocates, and many
non-profit hospitals who understand the importance of
providing every American comprehensive benefits that
can never be taken away. A majority of Americans
support the plan but want more information. But
there's a different type of opposition: those
concerned only with protecting the status quo and
their special interests. Already, even before the
plan was finished, the Health Insurance Association
of America produced paid TV advertising attacking
and distorting the plan.
The President's plan is based on a number of
principles that distinguish his approach: security,
simplicity, savings, quality, choice, and
responsibility, to ensure that we preserve what
works and change what doesn't in our current health
care system. Security -- comprehensive benefits that
can never be taken away. Simplicity -- eliminating
paperwork and bureaucracy and creating a single form.
Savings -- controlling health care costs. Quality --
making the world's best care better. Choice --
preserving your right to choose your doctor and
expanding choice of plans. Responsibility -- every
American assumes responsibility to bring an
out-of-control system under control and put funding
on a fair and responsible basis.