1. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE LIST.HEALTHPLAN WELCOME LETTER. NEVER WRITE A "REPLY" TO THE LIST; ALL MAIL REGARDING LIST MAINTENANCE SHOULD GO TO MY ADDRESS: sfreedkin@igc.apc.org USE THE FOLLOWING SUBJECT LINES IN YOUR EMAIL HEADERS: *REMOVE LIST.HEALTHPLAN -- to unsubscribe *SUBSCRIBE LIST.HEALTHPLAN -- to sign on *EDIT LIST.HEALTHPLAN -- to change your address on the list *SEND WELCOME LETTER LIST.HEALTHPLAN -- to receive instructions *QUERY LIST.HEALTHPLAN -- with other questions 2. FOLLOWING ARE THE HEALTH CARE REFORM RELATED PORTIONS OF THIS RELEASE. NON-HEALTH DISCUSSIONS ARE OMITTED. -- STEVE FREEDKIN, LIST.HEALTHPLAN ADMINISTRATOR ====================================================================== THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 20, 1994 PRESS BRIEFING BY DEE DEE MYERS The Briefing Room 2:16 P.M. EDT [...] Q Dee Dee, Senator Packwood said today that it's now or never, that the President should declare victory and cut a deal with Republicans, with moderates, on health care. Is the President prepared -- Q Can we finish on these other subjects first -- Q -- certain amount of -- Q Well, I know, but can we finish at least on -- Q Dee Dee, could you give us on Korea -- MS. MYERS: Yes, we'll keep the lights on until we get to health care. [...] Q Packwood says the time is now. Is the President ready and willing now to start looking for -- (inaudible) -- compromise? MS. MYERS: As the President said this morning, his bottom line remains universal coverage. He believes that any bill that comes to him must include guaranteed private insurance for every American and benefits that cannot be taken away. Those are benefits that he has; those are benefits that members of Congress have; those are benefits that he believes the American people should have. He certainly is willing to look at other ways to get there. He said -- he put forward a very complicated, very specific health care plan. He said he's already made some changes in that. He's willing to make more changes. But the one thing he's not willing to do is give up on guaranteed private insurance for every American. Q Is he going to accept a trigger for your mandate down the road? MS. MYERS: Well, I don't think he's willing to say specifically at this point without seeing the full proposal what he would and would not take. He said this morning that he believes it has to be something that reaches universal within a reasonable period of time. The plan he put forward, phased in universal coverage over a course of a couple of years, getting it in by January 1st, 1998. He said again today that it would have to be something that was done over a reasonable period of time. He thought phasing it in was certainly something that he could agree to. But it had to reach that bottom line of universal care -- universal coverage. So it depends on what Congress can work out and how they can reach that goal. Q But people like Senator Moynihan are saying it's too late to let Congress work this out. He put out an invitation yesterday. Has the President called him or made any effort to be in touch with the leaders on the Finance Committee and try to get something negotiated? MS. MYERS: He had a series of meetings, as you know, last week. He met both with bipartisan leaders from the House and Senate. He had a number of members in from the Senate Finance Committee. I don't believe he's spoken to Senator -- he had not spoken to Senator Moynihan today to my knowledge. He had not as of a little while ago. But certainly, he has been very involved in the health care process. He will continue to be involved in the process. And I think he's hopeful that -- he actually believes that we will get a bill this year. Senator Moynihan is also committed to getting universal health care. That's something that they agree on. And he's working with the members of the Senate Finance Committee to get that. [...] Q Dee Dee, on health care, you said the President would be willing to accept a reasonable amount of time in getting to universal coverage. Could 10 years in any way be considered a reasonable amount of time? MS. MYERS: I'm not going to discuss numerical limits on it. I think the President has said, he said that he expected to be done within a few years, a reasonable amount of time, but beyond that, I'm not going to limit his options. Q Would he consider 95 percent of the people covered, universal coverage? MS. MYERS: Again, universal means everybody, and I'm not going to get into a numbers game on that either. The President has said he wants to see private insurance for every American. Q Dee Dee, is the President willing at this point to start really dealing with Congress and negotiating and saying, I can live with this, I can live with that, but not this? I mean -- really get down to specifics on what he -- MS. MYERS: He told them what it is he has to have, what he can live with, which is the only immutable piece of his plan is guaranteed private insurance for every American. That is the one thing that he will not compromise on. And beyond that, he said, it's up to Congress to come back. He put forward a means of getting there. His plan or employer-based program is still being discussed in a number of committees -- certainly, a couple of House committees this week even as we speak. If the Senate has other ideas and the House has other ideas, the President has asked to see them. He says he's not wedded to any particular idea. As long as it gets to universal coverage within a reasonable amount of time, he's willing to look at it. Q Has the President added any further meetings with members of the Finance Committee or any of the other key players up there either this afternoon or tomorrow? MS. MYERS: He'll certainly continue to meet with and speak with members of Congress throughout this week. But I've nothing specific to announce on that yet. Q? How about a congressional leadership meeting at some point? MS. MYERS: Nothing scheduled that I know of at this point. He just did that last week. Q Can we assume then that lawmakers know -- he has expressed to lawmakers what he considers to be a reasonable amount of time, though you won't -- MS. MYERS: Well, I don't believe he's put a limit on it. Q So the 10 years then could be within the realm of possibility? MS. MYERS: I don't -- again, I'm not going to get drawn in to a debate about a particular amount of time. I think he's had discussions with Congress. They know -- he put forward a plan that would phase in universal coverage by 1998. He said today that it would be within a few years. Again, I'm not going to put on a numerical limit where the President didn't. I'm not going to make policy from this podium. [...] Q The President thought he killed off Harry and Louise, but they're coming back tonight. What does he think of that? [LIST.HEALTHPLAN MANAGER'S NOTE: "HARRY AND LOUISE" ARE A FICTIONAL COUPLE FEATURED IN TELEVISION ADS SPONSORED BY THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY, CRITICIZING THE CLINTON HEALTH-REFORM PLAN.] MS. MYERS: Well, clearly, the health insurance industry doesn't believe that health care reform is dead, or they wouldn't be spending more money to try to defeat it. We've seen special interests spend tens of millions of dollars to try to defeat health care reform. Q So it's still alive -- MS. MYERS: It's alive and kicking. Q Harry and Louise are a testament to how much momentum you have? (Laughter.) MS. MYERS: Exactly. (Laughter.) Brit, you have a future in this business. Q -- best -- that's the best ever -- MS. MYERS: It's true, Brit. Why would they be spending tens of millions of dollars if they thought health care reform was dead? Q Thanks, Brit. MS. MYERS: Do I get a gold star for today? [...] Q You do. MS. MYERS: Excellent. Q Dee Dee, if you can't get anything out of Congress that meets his definition of universal coverage, is he looking forward to going to the people in the '94 elections and campaigning against Congress or -- MS. MYERS: No, I think the President at this point believes that he will get a health care reform package that does include guaranteed private insurance for every American. He continues to be very optimistic about that, and is working very hard toward that goal. Q Does he agree with Moynihan's analysis of PAC groups, and Durenberger's today, that if it's not agreed to within the next two weeks, it's lost? MS. MYERS: Well, certainly there is some urgency to moving forward and making progress at this point. I'm not, again, going to set a deadline. That's something that Congress will have to decide. But certainly, there is a lot of work being done this week, I think, in the House committees as well as in the Senate Finance Committee. So we'll see what happens. I think there will be a lot of movement in the next two weeks. [...] END 2:44 P.M. EDT