[THE FOLLOWING ITEM IS EXCERPTED FROM A LENGTHY (1,000+ LINE) DOCUMENT THAT IS A COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT CLINTON'S SUMMER OF SERVICE FORUM HELD AUG. 31, 1993. THE PRESIDENT'S OPENING STATEMENT, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE DOCUMENT UNRELATED TO HEALTH-CARE REFORM, HAVE BEEN OMIT- TED.] THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release August 31, 1993 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT SUMMER OF SERVICE FORUM Stamp Student Union University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 11:00 A.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: [Speech omitted.] * * * * * Q I'm from Philadelphia Eye Care Program and I was wondering, does your health care reform plan have any -- does it have anything to subsidize the kind of door-to-door service needed for these immunization programs, or any of that preventative medicine that really is needed in our communities? THE PRESIDENT: Yes, the health care plan that will be announced in the next few weeks will have a big component of preventative care in it and will also provide the resources necessary to support the community-based clinics. I think it's very important that -- we have spent too little on preventive and primary care, causing us to have to spend too much on emergency care and care in later stages. So we're going to try to invest more in preventive and primary care and in those neighborhood clinics both in urban and rural areas. I think it will make a huge difference. The Philadelphia program is very, very impressive. Yes. Nice hat. (Laughter.) Q Thanks. I'm from Montana, but I worked out in Seattle this summer. I'll be starting medical school actually tomorrow, and I just had a question of you for what medical students can do and how we can play a role in your new plan, and how we can get on board as advocates of the plan, maybe give some input. Do you have any plans for including students? Not necessarily just medical students, but students and people who work in the health care profession? THE PRESIDENT: Yes, actually -- of course, all the students in all the health care professions will be eligible to actually participate in some of these programs through the national service initiative, so there will be a continuing opportunity there both during the school year and during the summer to do that. Secondly, we have tried over the last several months through the task force that the First Lady has headed to engage in dialogue -- medical students, nursing students, other people studying in the health care professions -- to try to make sure that the incentives we have in this program produce the kind of health care system we want and give young people who really want to serve in the problem areas a chance to do it. For example, as compared with all other advanced countries, the United States has far more specialists and far fewer family practitioners -- dramatic difference, huge difference from any other country. That means it's much harder to get people out in the basic clinics doing the basic services. So what we tried to do was to construct a program which would provide more incentives for medical schools and for students themselves -- financial incentives and others to go out and practice family medicine, but at the same time would not frighten the American people into thinking we're backing off of medical technology. So there's going to be more invested in medical research under this program. So I think that it will be good, and I hope that you will be able to take advantage of that and continue to participate. * * * * * [COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS OMITTED.] THE PRESIDENT: ... So, why do people stay on welfare? [COMMENTS OMITTED.] The second thing you have to do is to provide medical coverage for all Americans without regard to whether they're working or not. Seventy percent of all the people in this country who don't have health insurance are working for a living. So if you're on welfare, let me just give you an example. This is something that actually happens now. I helped work on a welfare reform program which Congress passed and President Reagan signed in late 1988 right before he left office. And to try to deal with this medical coverage program, we said, if you get a job that doesn't have health insurance we will provide you health insurance for six or nine months to get you off welfare. That's great, but guess what happens? You've got two people working side by side, one of them that used to be on welfare has got health insurance for her kids for nine months, working next to somebody who has never been on welfare that doesn't have any health insurance. So the second thing you have to do if you want to end welfare as we know it is to provide a system like every other advanced country has, that has affordable health care for all Americans. If you don't do it, you're going to continue to have these problems. ... [REMAINDER OMITTED.]