The White House Health Care Reform Today September 17, 1993 * A great start to the dialogue on health care. The President and the First Lady, the Vice-President and Mrs. Gore listened to people put faces to the problems of health care. They heard from 15 of the more than 700,000 who wrote to the White House about the need for health care reform. The President said: "In the weeks and months ahead, health care will often be topic number one at dinner tables, at offices, at medical clinics, and in the halls of Congress. If you read some of these letters as I have, the picture very quickly becomes clear. Even the millions of Americans who enjoy health care coverage are afraid it won't be there for them next month or next year. They want us to take action to give them the security that all Americans deserve." * Former Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare in the Eisenhower Administration, Dr. Arthur Flemming has expressed his strong support for President Clinton's health care reform proposal. He said: "The President has presented us with a historic opportunity, and we must seize the moment. Let us get a plan on the books and begin to learn from experience, instead of engaging in endless rhetoric. As a former U.S. Commissioner of Aging, I am particularly enthusiastic about the plan: because this proposal will mean a straightened Medicare program -- providing greater security and expanded benefits for older Americans. Under the President's proposal, older Americans will receive all the benefits they do today. In addition, Medicare will be expanded to cover prescription drug benefits, and there will be a new long-term care program to cover home- and community-based care. Nearly all Americans will still have to pay only 25% of the total cost of the Part B benefits they receive -- including the new drug benefit. Any increase in the premium will be consistent with the increase in benefits. Only the wealthiest Americans -- those people earning $100,000 or more -- will pay the full actuarial value of the benefits they receive. Finally, Medicare funds now being wasted to cover fraud and overcharges will be used to pay for these new benefits." Health Care Reform Today * The White House