European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 24, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse The stars and stripes a and a. February 84. Health Industry killing us says angry first lady from wire reports Boston Hillary Rodham Clinton said monday that the . Medical system will kill us literally financially spiritually morally and socially unless it is reformed but she also sought to lower Public expectations that there will be any Quick fixes. After a 90-Minutc meeting with about 20 Community health care providers and activists the first lady warned that there is no Way that everyone will be Happy with the overhaul Agenda she is shaping which is scheduled to be presented to Congress in May. In previous Public appearances she has said special interest groups Are Likely to resist significant reforms. On monday she again took swipes at the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries during a tour of the commercial District of Hyde Park a South Boston work ing class Community. Clinton who is in charge of revamping the nation s health care system came with Tipper Gore and . Sen. Edward m. Kennedy a mass to listen take notes and ask questions. Gore is the wife of vice presi Dent Al Gore. Clinton also spoke with those in the front lines of health care delivery the doctors nurses and Community health care workers who serve poor and elderly patients drug abusers and teen age parents. At Mario s restaurant where a neighbourhood Resi Dent told her he cannot get health coverage because of diabetes Clinton seemed angry and lambasted the insurance Industry for seeking Only Small pools with very few people with no pre existing conditions and being Able to move the rates up or Down at she fumed it s like we should All drop dead without Ever going into the Hospital. This cannot at the Home pharmacy when owner David Morgan talked of the skyrocketing Cost of prescription drugs Clinton wondered Why name Brand drugs Cost so much More than generic brands saying Don t you think we Hillary Rodham Clinton and sen. Edward m. Kennedy share a laugh monday at a Boston health care forum. Ought to find out Clinton who chairs the White House task Force on National health care Reform also vowed to come up with a plan that will contain costs noting that unless controlled health care spending could account for 20 percent of the Gross Domestic product within 10 yeas up from the current 14 percent. Having promised during the Campaign to control health care costs and provide Universal insurance coverage president Clinton is increasingly Hamstrung by his administration s own projections that the budget deficit is worsening at a time when expanding coverage could Cost $90 billion a year or More. Hillary Clinton s task Force is also studying a recommendation that the government subsidize Long term care and prescription drugs for the elderly measures that Likely will Garner crucial support for Overall change from powerful senior citizens groups but would add tens of billions of dollars to the Cost of National health Reform. As a result an array of new taxes is under consideration including on alcohol and tobacco As Well specific insurance reforms such As barring insurers from Refus ing to cover those with costly pre existing medical conditions and imposing limits on How much insure scan charge for premiums. The task Force which includes six Cabinet member Sand senior White House staffers also is said to be considering a one year wage and Price freeze on the healthcare Industry while implementing a National system of insurance coverage known As managed Competition. Managed Competition refers to the grouping of con Sumers into Large purchasing pools staffed by professionals with the expertise to shop among doctors hospitals and other providers for the Best Quality and Price but Clinton s own health policy analysts have concluded it could take five years or More before any Tan Gible savings become evident under managed Competition. More cuts coming Clinton tells businesses Washington a president Clinton asked business leaders tuesday not to dismiss his economic plan because of its Large tax increases and vowed that More cuts Are coming in Federal spend ing beyond what he has already pro posed. Clinton also said he will soon propose casing regulations on Banks to make it easier for businesses to get Loans. Clinton s plan would impose a new Energy tax on All fuels and raise income tax rates for wealthy individuals and corporations. It also proposed spending cuts to help trim the deficit by $140 billion by 1997, we have to do this together Clinton told the . Chamber of Commerce urging business support for the plan. It is bad business to let the status quo persist he added. Pitching his plan to a clearly sceptical audience Clinton said the new taxes while not free of pain would be offset for Many individuals and businesses by the savings from lower interest rates. We have no alternative but to change Xci into told the group saying failure to Cut the deficit would nearly paralyse the government by the end of the decade. Addressing criticism from Many Busi Ness groups that his plan contains too Many new taxes and not enough in reduced government spending Clinton said he in t done yet with the final program. There Are More cuts coming. I will find More Clinton promised. Nothing is off the table except items that reflect the fundamental interests of the american people he said. The chamber is a conservative business group that had strongly backed the eco nomic policies of presidents Reagan and Bush Clinton said he would have a plan to overhaul Bank lending regulations within the next few Days. Administration officials have said the plan will try to Case the nation s credit crunch by eliminating some of the burdensome regulations that discourage ending. The president s plan Calls for $325 Bil lion in deficit reduction Over the next four years. The program Calls for about $246 billion in new taxes and $79 billion in net spending cuts Over four years. Accompanied by an entourage of aides and secret service agents Clinton briskly walked the four blocks from the White House to Constitution Hall where remade the speech. Clinton sounded hoarse and looked worn from his visit to California and Washington state to promote the had returned to the White. House Early tuesday. On monday however he appeared to enjoy the Campaign style trip to the Sili con Valley in Mountain View calif., an the Seattle area where Clinton gave his economic program the hard can t Promise you overnight Mira cles. We did t get into this fix Over night he told Boeing co. Workers in Everett Wash. He blasted european subsidies for the Airbus jetliner program As hurting . Aircraft manufacturers and promised Tough new discipline to respond to them in the future. Boeing last week announced it was eliminating 27,000 jobs by mid-1994. Gore gets vocal in support of Clinton economic plan by John King a political writer Kansas City to. After an hour of familiar questions and familiar answers vice president Al Gore decided to raise his voice literally in support of the administration s new economic plan. It gives us the change we need As a nation to put the past behind us to break out of the gridlock Gore said vehemently and in full voice monday night at the close of a Missouri town meeting. It will happen Only when you decide personally to be a part of the change that you want to see in Gore flew to Kansas City for the televised town meeting after a morning appearance with Clinton in California. The president and vice president were continuing their Cross country tag team sales pitch for the economic program unveiled last week. The vice president broke no new ground in Fielding questions about Clinton s plans for the Economy health care Reform higher taxes and Job retraining pro Grams but was enthusiastically received by an audience he implored to pressure their lawmakers to support the Linton plan. We re at a Crossroads in the history of America Gore said. We need you to Send a message loudly and clearly that you the american people Are ready for change even when it requires Tough Gore acknowledged that All americans would pay More in Energy taxes in the Clinton plan but said most of the Burden fell on the wealthy and corporations. The Reward he said would be lower Long term interest rates that would make Homes cars and other consumer goods More affordable. He told an unemployed construction worker that the stimulus provisions would create new Highway and Bridge work As soon As Congress gave the plan final a f�0l Maud the president assured a woman that the health care reforms would include dental coverage. One Man in the audience said he was willing to Patmore in taxes but so optically asked Gore if the adminis Iranon was committed to Root out government wasteland fraud. We sure Are Gore said saying he would , with the government s inspectors general the i a major Federal departments and agencies a ask them for ideas on eliminating wasteful spending. ,
