THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary (Miami, Florida) _________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release March 21, 1994 REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AT FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL DINNER Sheraton Bal Harbour Hotel Miami, Florida 9:30 P.M. EST [...] Look at the health care plan: Florida adopted a fascinating health care plan. It may not be perfect, but it's a whole lot better than just letting things drift. And there is no such thing as a perfect plan. (Applause.) When we were putting together our national health program, we looked very closely at what Florida had done, especially the idea of bringing people together -- small business people and self-employed people, school districts and others --in large purchasing co-ops called alliances so that they can get lower costs. Florida is on the front line of this effort to reform health care. And as you have found in Florida, change is hard. If it were easy, the Republicans would have done it and they'd still have the White House. (Applause.) What I want to say to you is, I did not run for President to hold the office, to live in the White House, although it is a magnificent place and it still gives me chills every time I walk in the door and realize that every president since John Adams has lived there. I was perfectly happy in my family life and my work life doing what we were doing before. And I ran because I thought that we ought to change the country. In health care, I thought we ought to keep what's good about our system and change what's wrong -- the crazy financing system; get rid of unfair insurance practices and do it in a way that wouldn't make the insurance companies go broke. That's why we need big buyers groups. If you want to say don't discriminate against people because they're older; don't discriminate against people because they have had an illness in their family; don't discriminate against people because they're small business people or self- employed people, and you want to be fair and say how are you going to do that with insurance without bankrupting people, you have to have them in big pools. I think we ought to keep the right to choose doctors. People are losing the right to choose their doctor rapidly today. Fewer than half the people insured in the work force have it. Our plan increases choice, not decreases choice. That's the ultimate mockery of a lot of these ads that are being run. I think we ought to keep Medicare -- it works. But we ought to strengthen it. We ought to cover prescription medicine, and we ought to cover long-term care in the home and in the community so that people aren't forced to go into a nursing home when it costs more money if they can have some alternative care first. (Applause.) And if we do it right, we'll improve the quality of care and moderate cost increases. How do I know that? Look at Florida's purchasing alliances. The bids are coming in for health care from five to 40 percent below current costs. Why? Because when you put people together in larger groups, you can afford to insure them at a lower cost per person without bankrupting the insurers. [...]