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American Octoberfest - Painesville, Ohio 9/5/92 [OA 5812] [1]
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American Octoberfest - Painesville, Ohio 9/5/92 [OA 5812] [1]
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Folder Title:
American Oktoberfest-Painsville, Ohio 9/5/92 [OA 5812] [1]
Stack:
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26
18
4
4
1572
Sept. 5 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
Note: This proclamation was released by the
the people of south Florida and Louisiana.
Office of the Press Secretary on September
That is the American spirit, and Gretel, we're
5, and it was published in the Federal Reg-
very grateful to you.
ister on September 9.
While we're talking about the tragedy in
the south, I want to salute today the contin-
gents of Ohio's finest: the Ohio National
Guard 179th Airlift Group, back from their
Remarks at Octoberfest in
mission of mercy to south Florida, one mili-
Painesville, Ohio
tary person down there helping family after
September 5, 1992
family. It is a wonderful concept, and we're
proud of them all. Some of them served in
Thank you all. What a great turnout.
that Desert Storm, too, and they did a first-
Thank you so very much. Thank you. Thank
class job there, believe me. And the country
you very much, Mike. Thank you, Mike
has not forgotten.
DeWine, our next United States Senator.
So, in summary, it's great to be here in
Thank you very, very much for that welcome.
Painesville to help open up this year's
Barbara and I are thrilled to be with you,
Octoberfest. You've got the four basic food
glad to be with you and Fran. It's good to
groups: pancakes and syrup, bratwurst and
see Bob Bennett, our chairman; national
beer; and not one stick of broccoli anywhere
committeewoman Martha Moore over here;
in sight. This is a first-class
and Bob Gardner, who's running for Con-
Well, this celebration has always been a
gress. We want to see him elected. He's sit-
celebration of cultures, but this year, in a very
ting over there. Of course, a very special
special way, it's a celebration of the spirit.
thanks to the Bencics. I'll tell you, what great
We've witnessed a world of change. Across
hosts they are: Steve, Gretel, Martin, Carl,
Europe, across continents, from Panama City
Edith, and Linda. What a wonderful family.
to Prague, millions of men and women now
When I talk about family values I think of
celebrate a new birth of freedom.
their discipline, their love of country, and
In Germany-and I think of that because
their hard work.
of my friendship with Steve-and in Ger-
I bring greetings today from your Gov-
many a wall has fallen. We should take great
ernor and from my very good friend, George
pride in knowing that the German people
Voinovich. What an outstanding Governor
give us, the United States, great credit for
you have. He understands this country. You
standing up for their unity, for reunification
know, Steve told me that this is the first time
of Germany, and for their freedom. We
that the Governor has missed this event since
should be proud of that. For the people here
1966; and the only reason he did it, because
today, people who came to America from the
he's on a trade mission to Southeast Asia.
old country, who prayed for this day to come,
He's opening up new markets for Ohio
the change we've witnessed, this change
goods, and that means creating jobs for Ohio
we've worked for, is a miracle come true.
workers. I know he's going to miss all his
There are those-to quote the poet-who
bratwurst. I'm sure egg rolls taste great, but
will say that the liberation of humanity, the
you can't put syrup on egg rolls. And
freedom of man and mind, is nothing but
Voinovich will find that out.
a dream. They are right. It is the American
Now, I don't know whether you all got to
dream. The American dream led to so much
do what Barbara and I did, but I hope you've
of this freedom around the world. Today, our
all seen Gretel's cake. But you may not know
challenge is to bring that spirit home, and
the story behind this enormous cake. I don't
Mike DeWine said, home from the towns
want to give away her age, but 50 years ago
your parents and grandparents were born in
when she was a little girl, the war in Europe
to this new world we call America, and to
separated her from her mother. The Red
focus this great Nation on the new missio
Cross came to Gretel's rescue, so today she's
at hand.
returning the favor. Everyone who eats a
I know the main attraction this morning
piece of that cake is contributing food to help
is pancakes-[laughter]-not politics. I sa-
George Bush, 1992
Administration of George Bush, 1992 / Sept. 5
1573
rida and Louisiana.
lute not only the Republicans that are here,
health care reform is a key part of my agenda
it, and Gretel, we're
but I know there are many, many Democrats
for economic security for every family in this
bout the tragedy in
with us, and I'm very proud and pleased
country.
about that. But today I want to-and I've
This year, you watch, health care is going
te today the contin-
got to admit something, with the enthusiasm
the Ohio National
to be a Republican issue. We have a good
of this welcome, the temptation is for me
up, back from their
program. My Democratic opponents are di-
to get up here and tear into the Governor
vided between two bad programs, both of
h Florida, one mili-
of Arkansas, which I've got to do from time
helping family after
which would put Government in charge of
to time. But today, and I hope you'll bear
health care.
concept, and we're
with me, I want to just take a few minutes
The fact is we can reform the system with-
e of them served in
to talk to you about a serious matter, some-
and they did a first-
out pushing our economy into intensive care.
thing I hope you'll be thinking about as you
We must build on the strengths of the system
me. And the country
go into that voting booth on November 3d,
that's given us the highest quality care in the
about the way we can change America's
world, on consumer choice, on innovation
great to be here in
health care.
and state-of-the-art medicine, while control-
en up this year's
So this isn't a rally speech. I want to talk
the four basic food
ling costs and expanding access. We need an
to you-a little substance on health care. I
efficient health care system built on competi-
vrup, bratwurst and
want to tell you first a story, a story about
tion to control costs, not Government control
of broccoli anywhere
the McNally family from Dorset, Ohio. I first
and rationing care. Above all, we need a
learned about them when Tiffany McNally
has always been a
health care system that gives all Americans
wrote me at the White House 2 years ago.
real security, security that you can count on,
out this year, in a very
Four members of Tiffany's family have a rare
the coverage you need. My plan meets every
oration of the spirit.
blood disease, and Tiffany, who is adopted,
single one of these objectives.
d of change. Across
was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Now,
We can make health care more accessible
is, from Panama City
what if Mr. McNally were laid off, or worse
by making health insurance more affordable.
en and women now
fill, lost his job? Or what if he found a better
Take a family of two parents and two kids.
freedom.
ob, but the catch was no new health insurer
Let's say the family's income, the total in-
hink of that because
would carry him or his family? He'd have
come is $13,000. They're working hard to
Steve-and in Ger-
to stay put and let that opportunity pass him
make ends meet: low enough to put them
Ne should take great
by.
at the poverty line, high enough to make
the German people
Well, that is wrong. That's why we have
them ineligible for Medicaid. Right now, that
ates, great credit for
to change the health care system in America.
family may fall through the cracks, may not
nity, for reunification
Health care reform isn't just about studies
be covered through work, and may not be
their freedom. We
and cold statistics. It's about real worries and
able to afford any health care coverage at
For the people here
real lives. We have the answers to those wor-
all. Under my plan, that would change. This
e to America from the
ries.
family would get a $3,750 health care credit,
1 for this day to come,
Let's face it, the problem is not the quality
payable to the health care insurer of their
nessed, this change
of health care. American health care is num-
choice.
iracle come true.
ber one in the entire world. Since 1980, every
For middle-income individuals and fami-
quote the poet-who
life expectancy is up; infant mortality is
lies, all the way up to those making $80,000,
ion of humanity, the
down; death rates from heart disease down;
my plan provides a health insurance tax cred-
nind, is nothing but
deaths from stroke down. Right now, 200
it or deduction that will ease the burden of
it. It is the American
million Americans have access to quality care
health insurance costs.
Iream led to so much
system.
All told, this plan will bring health care
the world. Today, our
But that high quality, high-tech medical
coverage to almost 30 million uninsured
hat spirit home, and
care comes at an unacceptable price: An esti-
Americans and new help to nearly 95 million
ome from the towns
mated 30 million Americans have no insur-
Americans that are struggling to meet health
parents were born in
ance at all, and millions more, like the
care's runaway costs.
call America, and to
IcNallys, are afraid to change jobs for fear
on the new missio
My plan provides security to families like
losing the health insurance that they've
the McNallys and then others that are caught
got. All told, America's health care now tops
up in what health care experts call "job lock,"
traction this morning
$800 billion a year, and the cost is rising 2
the fear that because of what they call pre-
]-not politics. I sa-
to 3 times the rate of inflation. That's why
existing medical conditions, changing jobs
1574
Sept. 5 / Administration of George Bush, 1992
will cost you and your family your health in-
You know, we probably have to stop using
surance. We're going to change all of that.
that comparison. That comparison made a
My plan cuts runaway costs by making the
few people hot under the collar. I even g
system more efficient. And the key is some-
one letter from Russia telling me, "Quit run
thing we call health insurance networks,
ning down the KGB." [Laughter]
pooling together individuals and businesses
Nationalized health care, and here's what
that too often can't afford to offer health in-
we're in for: long waiting lines, lists for sur-
surance to their workers or that worry that
gery, shortages of the high-tech equipment
one worker's illness or accident could drive
responsible for so many of the miracles of
everyone else's health insurance right
modern medicine. One example: Right
through the roof. Insurance costs obey the
now-you've got great facilities in Cleve-
law of large numbers: the larger the group
land-but right now the Cleveland Clinic
being insured, the lower the cost per individ-
performs 10 coronary bypass surgeries-I
ual; the broader the risk is spread, the lower
see we've got a doctor from the clinic over
the administrative overhead.
here. [Laughter] Well, that's great. They per-
We're also going to cut health care costs
form 10 bypass surgeries a day; high tech,
by wringing out waste and excess in the
high quality, special, excellent surgery with-
present system. That's why we have targeted
out any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie
malpractice insurance for reform. You know
in Canada, the wait for coronary bypass sur-
this, and I know it, and every American
gery is up to 6 months, and that's not the
knows it. High malpractice premiums mean
kind of system that America wants or Amer-
higher doctors' bills, expensive, unnecessary
ica needs.
tests, higher hospital cost, costs passed along
Then there's the cost. According to some
not only to the patient but to every American
studies, nationalized health care would mean
taxpayer. Last year alone, legal costs inflated
a whopping $250 billion to $500 billion a year
our doctors' bills by $20 billion. You
in new taxes. But you won't hear about hig)
shouldn't have to pay a lawyer when you go
er taxes from the folks that are pushing th
to the doctor.
scheme. Just ask them about some of the side
When health care costs total more than
effects of their plan, and they just say, "Take
what we spend on our kids' education and
two aspirin; call me after the election."
our country's national defense combined-
[Laughter]
education and defense combined, health care
Well, this is what this election is about:
costing more-even small changes can save
who's got the good ideas, and who's got some
us billions. If we made all the changes I've
lousy ones. We've the right ideas on health
talked about, my plan would save nearly $400
care. They have the wrong ones.
billion in the next 4 years.
My opponent backs a plan that goes by
I listen to the American people, and you
a different name, but in the end it takes you
want to know you've got insurance you can
to the same place, nationalized health care.
count on. I don't hear you calling for higher
It's called "play or pay." Listen for that one
taxes to finance a Government takeover of
during the fall, "play or pay." Here's what
our hospitals. I will never approve such a pro-
it means: Each employer must "play", mean-
gram.
ing shell out for insurance for employees, or
Yet that is exactly what some of my oppo-
"pay", extract a payroll tax to finance Govern-
nents want, to nationalize our health care sys-
ment health coverage.
tem: put Government in control; let Govern-
"Play or pay" will leave a lot of small busi-
ment fix the prices; let Government ration
nesses, those we are counting on to lead the
the kind of care that people get, and how
recovery we need so desperately, with two
much, what kind, and when they'll get it. Go
crummy options: cut workers' wages to pay
the Government route, and you know what
for mandated health care, or fire some wor
we'll get: our health care system that com-
ers and use the savings to cover the rest. A
bines the efficiency of the House of Rep-
cording to an independent Urban Institute
resentatives post office with the compassion
study, the "pay" part of this plan is no play-
of the KGB over there in Moscow.
ground. It will require at least a 7-percent
of George Bush, 1992
Administration of George Bush, 1992 / Sept. 5
1575
ly have to stop using
payroll tax. Now you small-business people
American worker and to the American family
comparison made a
here, you that have your sleeves rolled up
and get off your backsides and do something
the collar. I even g
running a restaurant or running a neighbor-
about it.
elling me, "Quit run
hood store of some kind, think about that
If you think I'm a little frustrated with this
aughter]
one.
gridlocked Congress, you are right. We ought
care, and here's what
According to estimates, that kind of tax will
to clean House. On this Labor Day weekend,
ng lines, lists for sur-
cost this country 700,000 jobs. For an em-
we should remember what Jefferson called
high-tech equipment
ployee earning $24,000 a year say, that pay-
the sum of good government: Whether it re-
y of the miracles of
roll tax would mean $1,700 chopped right out
ne example: Right
spected the right of each one of us, Thomas
of his paycheck. Higher prices, lower wages,
facilities in Cleve-
Jefferson said, and I quote, "A wise and fru-
lost job: Any way you look at it, that is the
the Cleveland Clinic
gal government shall not take from the
wrong prescription for America.
mouth of labor the bread that it has earned."
bypass surgeries-I
So in the end, this "play or pay" is no dif-
from the clinic over
In Jefferson's day, doctors made house calls
ferent from nationalized health care. I'm
'hat's great. They per-
on horseback and life was short. Today, we
tempted to call it "pay and pay and pay
ies a day; high tech,
have miracle medicines that can pluck us
again." It's an open invitation for employers
from death's door.
<cellent surgery with-
to stop offering health benefits, throw the
But all this is of no matter if we can't afford
live across Lake Erie
problem in the Government's lap, and dump
coronary bypass sur-
it, not if it is reserved only for the privileged
millions of Americans that are working into
.S, and that's not the
a public plan like Medicaid.
or the prosperous, not if it bankrupts the
erica wants or Amer-
families of America. We must not take from
Right now, the cost of health care eats up
13 percent of all the goods and services that
the mouth of labor the bread that you have
t. According to some
we produce. Do you really want to turn an-
earned. We must fix the health care system
alth care would mean
of America.
other huge chunk of our economy over to
1 to $500 billion a year
the Government? We can't afford to saddle
Once again, let me say I hope this hasn't
von't hear about hig)
ourselves with a health care cure that's worse
been too long and too specific, but this strikes
that are pushing th
than the disease, especially when we have
at the core and the well-being of every single
about some of the side
a much better alternative.
family in America. There is no better place
d they just say, "Take
Now you can see why I believe health care
to talk about family and family values than
after the election."
is going to be a Republican issue this year.
it is right here with Steve and Gretel. To
My opponent just isn't up to the mark on
all of you, my thanks for this warm Ohio wel-
his election is about:
health care. A major newspaper that I don't
come. May God bless the greatest, freest
IS, and who's got some
quote too often these days, the New York
country on the face of the Earth, the United
right ideas on health
Times-[laughter]-described Bill Clinton's
States of America. Thank you all.
ong ones.
attention to health care issues as, I quote,
S a plan that goes by
"occasional." It's no surprise why. After hav-
Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m., at the
in the end it takes you
ing Governor Clinton for 12 years, one in
Lake County fairgrounds. A tape was not
tionalized health care.
four folks in Arkansas don't even have health
available for verification of the content of
v." Listen for that one
these remarks.
insurance. Bill Clinton has promised he'll do
or pay." Here's what
for America what he's done for Arkansas.
er must "play", mean-
And my question is: Why would we let him?
ince for employees, or
I want to start our program that's been
tax to finance Govern-
sitting up on Capitol Hill for a while moving
Remarks on Arrival at Greenville,
forward. Move forward on health reform.
South Carolina
ave a lot of small busi-
And Congress comes back from what they
September 5, 1992
ounting on to lead the
call a work period-they've been on vacation
desperately, with two
for a month and a half-next Tuesday. My
Thank you all very, very much. What a
workers' wages to pay
opponents are divided. Even they know their
great welcome back to this wonderful State.
are, or fire some wor
proposals won't work. And I say, let Congress
Listen, I am so proud that the First Lady
S to cover the rest. A
start by passing my small business health care
of South Carolina is with us, our old friend,
ndent Urban Institute
reforms to bring affordable, quality health
Iris Campbell. You've got a great Governor,
of this plan is no play-
care to millions of Americans who don't have
and you've got a great First Lady. And they
re at least a 7-percent
it now. Make it a Labor Day present to the
represent this State with honor and dignity.
Document No. 348225ss
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
92 SEP 4 P1:18
DATE:
9/4/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
---
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: AMERICAN OCTOBERFEST
SUBJECT:
PAINESVILLE, OHIO - SATURDAY, 9/5-9:30ar
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCBRIDE
BAKER
MOORE
SCOWCROFT
MULLINS
DARMAN
PETERSMEYER
BATES
PORTER
BRADY
PROVOST
BROMLEY
ROSS
CALIO
SMITH
DEMAREST
TUTWILER
FITZWATER
ZOELLICK
GRAY
BOSKIN
HOLIDAY
KAUFMAN
HORNER
MCGROART
REMARKS:
The attached has been forwarded to the President.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
September 4, 1992
02 2 SEP 4 All : 33
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY our
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED REMARKS AT OCTOBERFEST
I. SUMMARY
On Saturday, September 5th at 9:30 a.m., you will deliver
remarks to an audience of 1,500 at the 30th Annual Steve Bencic
Original American Octoberfest in Painesville, Ohio.
II. DISCUSSION
Your remarks (approximately 20 minutes / teleprompter),
following a pancake breakfast, focus on your health care proposal
by highlighting its real-world practicality through a real-life
example.
Following your remarks, you will participate in a few of the
Octoberfest activities.
PROPOSED cuts
MARKED.
As
McGroarty (Walters/Bunton
you
September 4, 1992
11:15 a.m.
[health]
410 pm
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINESVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic [BENZ-ick]. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time Governor
Voinovich has missed this event since 1966. He's on a trade
mission to South Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and
creating new jobs for Ohio workers. // I'm sure Korean spring
rolls taste great
but you can't put syrup on a spring roll.
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but 50 years
ago, when Gretel was a little girl, the war in Europe separated
her from her Mother. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need.
The survivors of Hurricane Andrew have been eating military
rations for 8 days. We have a cargo plane on stand-by -- ready
to descend on them with 500 pounds of Gretel's cake. I know
there won't be a crumb left in sight.
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units [xxx and xxx], on route now
to southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painesville to help open this
year's Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups:
pancakes and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not a sprig of
broccoli to be seen. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Panama City to Prague, millions of men
and women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people
here today -- people who came to America from the Old Country --
who prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed --
this change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. But today I want to take a few minutes to speak to you
about a serious matter, something I hope you'll be thinking about
as you go into that voting booth November 3rd: About the way we
can change America's health care system for the better. //
3
I want to tell you a story about the McNally family from
Dorset, Ohio -- I first learned about them when Tiffany McNally
wrote me at the White House two years ago. Tiffany turned 16
just last week. Tistury's Her Mom is healthy -- but her Dad has a rare
members
blood disease. So do her two sisters and her two brothers.
Tiffany doesn't have the blood disease you see, she was
she
adopted. But through her natural mother, Tiffany was born with
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. //
Tiffany's mom works part time as a church secretary; her dad
is a utility worker. A routine visit to the doctor costs more
than Mrs. McNally earns all week. See, it sounds tough. But my
point today isn't to tell you how tough things are at Tiffany's
cut.
house. As Mrs. McNally says: "They make do."
But what if Mr. McNally were laid off -- or worse still, if
he lost his job. Well, in Mrs. McNally's words: "They'd be
sunk or let EVEN say Mr. IF McNally found a better job -- but the
JOB Lock
catch was: No new health insurer would carry him or his family.
He'd have to stay put, and let that opportunity pass him by.
Well, that is wrong. That's why we have to change the
health care system in America. Reforming health care reform
O
isn't just about studies and cold statistics -- it's about real
worries / real lives.
The problem 10 not the
Let's be clear: The one thing this crisis is not about is
the quality of care. American health care is first rate, number
one in the world. Since 1980, average life expectancy in America
is up -- infant mortality is down. Death rates from heart
4
disease are down. Deaths from stroke -- down. Part of the
reason is one of the best kept secrets in Washington: since I
took office, we've increased funding for federal medical research
more than 150 percent. We're going after everything from AIDS to
Alzeimers -- to save the young and old of America.
//
STOT
Right now, 200 million Americans have access to this quality
care system But that high quality, high-tech medical care comes
at an unacceptable price: 34 million Americans have no insurance
at all -- and millions more are afraid to change jobs for fear of
losing the health insurance they've got. America's health care
costs now top $800 billion dollars a year -- and the cost is
rising two to three times the rate of inflation. //
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy drive up the deficit -- and soak up money you need for
other important family expenses. 11 That's why health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
This election year, health care is going to be a Republican
issue. // We've have a good program, and my Democratic
opponents are divided between two bad ones -- both of which would
put government in charge of health care.
Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent of all
move
the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want to do
is put the government in charge of a huge chunk of the American
economy that is already bigger than the Pentagon. // America
P.
5
simply cannot afford to take a gamble on government-run health
care. //
STET
The fact is We can reform the system without pushing our
economy into intensive care. We must build on the strengths of
stet
the present system: on consumer choice, on innovation and state-
of-the-art medicine -- while controlling costs and expanding
access.
We need an efficient health care system built on
competition to control costs -- not government control and
rationing care. One that keeps costs down -- opens up access
and allows choice in care But above all, a health care system
that gives all Americans real security -- security / that if you
change jobs, if you or your kids develop serious health problems,
that you can
you 11 still be able to count on the coverage you need. //
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We start making health care more accessible -- by making
health insurance more affordable. For low income individuals and
families I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
dollars a year that will guarantee a quality health insurance
package for the poor
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
and with a
parent
employed by a company that doesn't provide health
9
coverage Let's say that family S total income is $13,000 -- low
enough to put them at the poverty line, but high enough to make
them ineligible for Medicaid. Ye Right now, that family may falls
through the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at
all. Under my plan, that would change: this family would
highest
possible
6
qualify for $3,750 health care credit -- payable to the health
care insurer of their choice. (And large state insurance pools
will ensure that our credit will pay the full cost of a quality
health plan.) 11 11 For middle-income individuals and families -
- all the way up to those making $80,000 dollars -- my plan
provides a health insurance tax credit or deduction that will
ease the burden of health insurance costs. //
My plan will bring health care coverage to almost 30 million
uninsured Americans .security to people who, for far too long,
and baing
have had to do without. And all told, my plan means new help for
nearly 95 million Americans + -% of American families) now
struggling to meet health care's runaway costs.
My plan provides security to families like the McNallys and
STET
others caught in what health care experts call "job lock" -- the
fear that because of what they call "pre-existing medical
conditions," changing jobs will cost you and your family your
health insurance.
STET
My plan cuts runaway costs by making the system more
efficient. The key is something we call Health Insurance
Networks -- pooling together individuals and businesses that too
often can't afford to offer health insurance to their workers --
or that worry that one worker's illness or accident could drive
everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Here's how it works.
Insurance costs obey the "law of large
numbers:" The larger the group being insured, the lower the cost
per individual -- the broader the risk is spread -- the lower the
7
administrative overhead.
Think
of
it
this
way:
The
more
people
on your side, the better the bargain you can strike. What kind
of a deal can you get bargaining with a dealer to buy one car?
Now let's say you get together with some friends -- or with a
purchasing co-op -- and then go back to negotiate with the car
dealer? You'd drive a harder bargain -- and get the same car for
a better price. Well, the same thing works for health care.
We've got to use market forces to drive down costs and increase
efficiencies.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform.
You shouldn't have to pay a lawyer when you go to the
doctor.) Right now, people are doing just that: High malpractice
premiums mean higher doctors bills, expensive, unnecessary tests
and higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to the
patient, but to every American taxpayer. Last year alone, legal
costs inflated our doctors' bills by $20 billion dollars.
These are the kind of changes we want to make When health
care costs total more than what we spend on our kids' education
and our country's national defense -- combined -- even small
changes can save us billions. And if we made all the changes
I've talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars
in the next four years. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you ve
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
8
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
And yet that's what some of my opponents want: To
nationalize our health care system. Put government in control:
let government fix prices, let government ration the kind of care
people get -- how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. /
Go the government route, and you know what we'll get: A health
care system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office
with the compassion of the KGB. //
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB." //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is up to six months. Need
your tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is
3 and 1/2 months. That's not the kind of system America wants or
needs.
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes.
//
ADD JOKE
9
My opponent backs a plan that goes by a different name --
but in the end, takes you to the same place: Nationalized health
care. It's called "Play or pay," and here's what it means: Each
employer must "play" -- meaning: shell out for insurance for
employees, or "pay" -- extract a payroll tax to finance
government health coverage. //
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
with two curummy n options ( none of us would envy: Cut workers' wages to
pay for mandated health care. Or fire some workers and use the
savings to cover the rest. // According to an independent Urban
Institute study, the "pay" part of this plan is no playground.
It will require at at least a 7 percent payroll tax. And by one
estimate that will cost this country 700,000 jobs. For an
employee earning $30,000 dollars a year -- that payroll tax would
mean $2100 chopped out of his paycheck. // Higher prices, lower
wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the wrong
prescription for America.
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay
STET
and pay again." It invites employers to stop offering health
benefits, throw the problem in the government's lap, and dump
millions of working Americans into a public plan like Medicaid.
We can't afford to saddle ourselves with a health care cure
that's worse than the disease. Especially when we have a good
alternative. //
10
Congress comes back from recess next Tuesday. I want to
start moving forward on reform. My opponents are divided -- even
they know their two proposals won't work. I say: Let Congress
start by passing my small business health care reforms -- and bing
package that will mean affordable, quality health care for to
millions of Americans who don't have it now. Make it a Labor Day
present to the American worker. //
I know this morning I've asked you to hear me out on a
serious subject. But real health care reform is a matter --
literally -- of life and death importance to working men and
women and their families. /
What about my opponent? Well, earlier this year, one of
America's major newspapers described Bill Clinton's attention to
health care issues as -- and I quote -- "occasional." And it
cited this fact: One in four Arkansans has no health insurance -
- a much higher rate than the national average.
Bill Clinton's been Governor of his state for 12 years.
What if he keeps his promise to do for America what he did for
Arkansas? Then where will we be? //
I thought you should know that one candidate sees health
care reform as more than a slogan -- more than another excuse to
make government bigger or take more of your taxes.
On this Labor Day weekend, we should remember what Lincoln
called the true test of government: Whether it respected the
right of each one of us -- and I quote -- "to put into his own
mouth the bread that his own hands have earned." //
11
In Lincoln's day, doctors made log cabin calls and life was
short. Today, we have miracle medicines that can pluck us from
death's door. //
But all this is of no matter, if we cannot afford it. Not
if it is reserved only for the privileged or the prosperous. Not
if it bankrupts the families of America. We must "put in the
mouth of labor the bread that you have earned." We must fix the
health care system of America. 11
Once again, my thanks to Steve and Gretel and to all of you
for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Health Care
September 4, 1992
for RB2 review.
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
FROM:
DAN MC GROARTY our
SUBJECT:
PROPOSED REMARKS AT OCTOBERFEST
I.
SUMMARY
On Saturday, September 5th at 9:30 a.m., you will deliver
remarks to an audience of 1,500 at the 30th Annual Steve Bencic
Original American Octoberfest in Painesville, Ohio.
II. DISCUSSION
Your remarks (approximately 20 minutes / teleprompter),
following a pancake breakfast, focus on your health care proposal
by highlighting its real-world practicality through a real-life
example.
Following your remarks, you will participate in a few of the
Octoberfest activities.
DMr,
R.Zoellich's
nec's pm.
3
McGroarty (Walters/Bunton)
September 4, 1992
11:15 a.m.
[health]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINESVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic [BENZ-ick]. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time Governor
Voinovich has missed this event since 1966. He's on a trade
mission to South Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and
creating new jobs for Ohio workers. // I'm sure Korean spring
rolls taste great
...
but you can't put syrup on a spring roll.
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but 50 years
ago, when Gretel was a little girl, the war in Europe separated
her from her Mother. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need.
The survivors of Hurricane Andrew have been eating military
rations for 8 days. We have a cargo plane on stand-by -- ready
to descend on them with 500 pounds of Gretel's cake. I know
there won't be a crumb left in sight.
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units [xxx and xxx], on route now
to southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painesville to help open this
year's Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups:
pancakes and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not a sprig of
broccoli to be seen. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Panama City to Prague, millions of men
and women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people
here today -- people who came to America from the Old Country --
who prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed --
this change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. But today I want to take a few minutes to speak to you
about a serious matter, something I hope you'll be thinking about
as you go into that voting booth November 3rd: About the way we
can change America's health care system for the better. //
weve got to cut this down
3
I want to tell you a story about the McNally family from
Dorset, Ohio -- I first learned about them when Tiffany McNally
wrote me at the White House two years ago. Tiffany turned 16
just last week I's Her Mom is healthy -- but her Dad has a rare
@ 4 menter
blood disease. So do her two sisters and her two brothers.
&
And Tiffany doesn't have the blood disease you see, she was
she
adopted. But through her natural mother, Tiffany was born with
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. //
Tiffany's mom works part time as a church secretary; her dad
is a utility worker A routine visit to the doctor costs more
than Mrs. McNally earns all week. See, it sounds tough. But my
point today isn't to tell you how tough things are at Tiffany's
house. As Mrs. McNally says: They make do."
But what if Mr. McNally were laid off -- or worse still, if job
he lost his job. Well, in Mrs. McNally' words: "They'd be
sunk. " or let's say Mr. McNally found a better job -- but the
catch was: No new health insurer would carry him or his family.
He'd have to stay put, and let that opportunity pass him by.
Well, that is wrong. That's why we have to change the
health care system in America. Reforming health care reform
isn't just about studies and cold statistics -- it's about real
worries / real lives.
Let's be clear: The one thing this crisis is not about is
the quality of care. American health care is first-rate, number
one in the world. Since 1980, average life expectancy in America
is up -- infant mortality is down. Death rates from heart
4
disease are down. Deaths from stroke -- down. Part of the
reason is one of the best kept secrets in Washington: since I
took office, we've increased funding for federal medical research
more than 150 percent. We're going after everything from AIDS to
Alzeimers -- to save the young and old of America
/
/.
Right now, 200 million Americans have access to this quality
care system. But that high quality, high-tech medical care comes
at an unacceptable price: 34 million Americans have no insurance
at all -- and millions more are afraid to change jobs for fear of
losing the health insurance they've got. America's health care
costs now top $800 billion dollars a year -- and the cost is
rising two to three times the rate of inflation. //
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money you need for
other important family expenses. // That's why health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
This election year, health care is going to be a Republican
issue. // We've have a good program, and my Democratic
opponents are divided between two bad ones -- both of which would
put government in charge of health care.
Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent of all
D. you really want to turn that
the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want to do
is put the government in charge of a huge chunk of the American
much more of our economy to the government
economy that is already bigger than the Pentagon. H America
Move top9 (Insen4)
5
simply cannot afford to take a gamble on government run health
care. /
"Stal The fact is: We can reform the system without pushing our
economy into intensive care. 11 We must build on the strengths of
the present system: on consumer choice, on innovation and state-
of-the-art medicine -- while controlling costs and expanding
access. , H We need an efficient health care system built on
competition to control costs -- not government control and
rationing care. One that keeps costs down -- opens up access --
and allows choice in care A But above all, a health care system
that gives all Americans real security -- security / that if you
change jobs, if you or your kids develop serious health problems,
you'll still be able to count on the coverage you need. //
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We start making health care more accessible -- by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
dollars a year that will guarantee a quality health insurance
package for the poor.
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
Cld
As
we
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
hold a
coverage. Let's say that family's total income is $13,000 -- low
higher#
enough to put them at the poverty line, but high enough to make
may
them ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family 6 falls
through the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at
all. Under my plan, that would change: this family would
6
qualify for $3,750 health care credit -- payable to the health
care insurer of their choice. (And large state insurance pools /will
will ensure that our credit will pay the full cost of a quality
lose
then
health plan.) H For middle-income individuals and families -
- all the way up to those making $80,000 dollars -- my plan
provides a health insurance tax credit or deduction that will
ease the burden of health insurance costs. //
My plan will bring health care coverage to almost 30 million
uninsured Americans -- security to people who, for far too long,
have had to do without. And all told, my plan means new help for
nearly 95 million Americans ( -% of American families) now
struggling to meet health care's runaway costs.
My plan provides security to families like the McNallys and
others caught in what health care experts call "job lock" -- the
fear that because of what they call "pre-existing medical
conditions," changing jobs will cost you and your family your
health insurance.
My plan cuts runaway costs -- by making the system more
efficient. The key is something we call Health Insurance
Networks -- pooling together individuals and businesses that too
often can't afford to offer health insurance to their workers --
or that worry that one worker's illness or accident could drive
everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Here's how it works. Insurance costs obey the "law of large
numbers:' The larger the group being insured, the lower the cost
per individual -- the broader the risk is spread -- the lower the
Isave this sentere
7
administrative overhead. ) Think of it this way: The more people
on your side, the better the bargain you can strike. What kind
of a deal can you get bargaining with a dealer to buy one car?
Now let's say you get together with some friends -- or with a
purchasing co-op and then go back to negotiate with the car
dealer? You'd drive a harder bargain -- and get the same car for
a better price. Well, the same thing works for health care.
wer
We ve got to use market forces to drive down costs and increase
efficiencies.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform.
You shouldn't have to pay a lawyer when you go to the
doctor. Right now, people are doing just that: High malpractice
premiums mean higher doctors' bills, expensive, unnecessary tests
and higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to the
patient, but to every American taxpayer. Last year alone, legal
costs inflated our doctors' bills by $20 billion dollars.
These are the kind of changes we want to make. When health
care costs total more than what we spend on our kids' education
and our country's national defense -- combined -- even small
changes can save us billions. And if we made all the changes
I've talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars
in the next four years. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
8
lose your job / or change your job I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
And yet that's what some of my opponents want: To
nationalize our health care system. Put government in control:
let government fix prices, let government ration the kind of care
people get -- how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. /
Go the government route, and you know what we'll get: A health
care system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office
with the compassion of the KGB. //
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB." //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is up to six months. Need
your tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is
3
and 1/2 months That's not the kind of system America wants or
needs.
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes.
//
clinto
99 Audits not surprise why: After beary havey being Governor for 12 years,
one in form Arkansans dont even have health insurance!
A What if he does 9 45 America what he d.d to Ankarsas Thank twice
about
trot
My opponent backs a plan that goes by a different name --
prospect
but in the end, takes you to the same place: Nationalized health
care. It's called "Play or pay," and here's what it means: Each
employer must "play" -- meaning: shell out for insurance for
employees, or "pay" -- extract a payroll tax to finance
government health coverage. //
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
with two crummy options, none of us would envy: Cut workers' wages to
pay for mandated health care. Or fire some workers and use the
savings to cover the rest. // According to an independent Urban
Institute study, the "pay" part of this plan is no playground.
It will require at at least a 7 percent payroll tax. And by one
estimate, that will cost this country 700,000 jobs. For an
employee earning $30,000 dollars a year -- that payroll tax would
mean $2100 chopped out of his paycheck. // Higher prices, lower
wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the wrong
prescription for America.
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay
and pay again." It invites employers to stop offering health
benefits, throw the problem in the government's lap, and dump
millions of working Americans into a public plan like Medicaid.
We can't afford to saddle ourselves with a health care cure
that's worse than the disease. Especially when we have a good
alternative. //
Insut
a Requblican isku
A from p 4
GiNow you can see why I believe Health Cane is going to be my the this
year. 91 my opponent Natreth just isn't up to the mark on health care
Chk
health came issue t I Ginohe "occassiml".
A A majn in Ark newspaper, The New york Times, desnihed B.11 Clintons attentan to
10
Congress comes back from recess next Tuesday. I want to
start moving forward on health reform. My opponents are divided -- even
they know their two proposals won't work. I say: Let Congress
start by passing my small business health care reforms -- a
package that will mean affordable, quality health care for
millions of Americans who don't have it now. Make it a Labor Day
present to the American worker. //
I know this morning I've asked you to hear me out on a
serious subject. But real health care reform is a matter --
literally -- of life and death importance to working men and
women and their families.
/
The New York Times,
What about my opponent? Well, earlier this year, one of
America's major newspapers described Bill Clinton's attention to
health care issues as -- and I quote -- "occasional." And it
doesn't dont eventowe
cited this fact: One in four Arkansans has no health insurance
- a much higher rate than the national average.
Bill Clinton's been Governor of his state for 12 years.
does
What if he keeps his promise to do for America what he did for
Arkansas? Then where will we be?
//
I thought you should know that one candidate sees health
care reform as more than a slogan -- more than another excuse to
make government bigger or take more of your taxes.
On this Labor Day weekend, we should remember what Lincoln
called the true test of government: Whether it respected the
right of each one of us -- and I quote -- "to put into his own
mouth the bread that his own hands have earned." //
11
In Lincoln's day, doctors made log cabin calls and life was
short. Today, we have miracle medicines that can pluck us from
death's door. / /
But all this is of no matter, if we cannot afford it. Not
if it is reserved only for the privileged or the prosperous. Not
if it bankrupts the families of America. We must "put in the
mouth of labor the bread that you have earned." We must fix the
health care system of America. 11
Once again, my thanks to Steve and Gretel and to all of you
for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
348225SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
NOON, THURS., SEPT. 3
9/2/92
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
Y MOORE
BAKER
x MULLINS
SCOWCROFT
DARMAN Saully N/c to our
PETERSMEYER
PORTER Wilensky
BRADY
x PROVOST
BROMLEY
ROSS
CALIO
N/C
SMITH
DEMAREST
TUTWILER
FITZWATER
X
ZOELLICK 10:30
KAUFMAN
GRAY
N/C
BATES
HOLIDAY
BOSKIN To 034cr
HORNER
By phone
MCGROARTY
MCBRIDE
REMARKS:
Please provide comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this
office NO LATER THAN NOON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
Called 11:00
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
12:00
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Walters
September 2, 1992
4:00 p.m.
2002 P4: 08
[health]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time he's missed out
on Steve and Gretel's cooking since 1966 -- but he's got good
reason today. Governor Voinovich is on a trade mission to South
Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and creating new
jobs for Ohio workers. //
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but years
-
ago, when Gretel was 2 years old, the war in Europe separated her
from her family. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need. That's the best
in the American spirit: plenty of heart, always generous, always
ready to help neighbors in need. //]]
And after x-thousand Meals Ready to Eat, we may just airlift
Gretel's cake to Miami to take care of dessert. !!
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units XXXX and XXX, on route now to
southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painsville to help open this year's
Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups: pancakes
and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not one sprig of
broccoli in sight. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Managua to Moscow, millions of men and
women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people here
today -- people who came to America from the Old Country -- who
prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed -- this
change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. So today I've set aside the standard Labor Day speech.
I want to do something a little different -- I want to take a few
minutes to speak to you about a serious matter, something you
should be thinking about as you go into that voting booth
3
November 3rd: About the way we can change America's health care
system for the better. //
Think about the challenges we face as a nation: Anyone
concerned about America's competitiveness has to see controlling
health care costs as key to a healthy economy. / Think about
the concerns we have as parents: Health care -- for ourselves,
for our kids -- has to top the list. //
Maybe you're worried about what happens to your health care
if you change jobs -- or worse still, if you lose your job.
Maybe you've got a child with a long-term illness. You're
worried that if you leave your job -- even to take a better one -
- you'll lose your health care. [[LETTER FROM CLEVELAND GIRL,
TIFFANY MCNALLY, ON FAMILY'S HEALTH PROBLEMS ]]
//
The one thing this crisis is not about is quality of care.
American health care is first-rate, number one in the world.
Since 1980, average life expectancy in America is up -- infant
mortality is down. Deaths from heart disease are down. Deaths
200
CEA
from stroke -- down. One big reason is the [xx] percent increase
in federal medical research in everything from Alzheimers to
AIDS.
And right now, the vast majority of Americans have
access to this quality care system. But the cost we pay for
health care has skyrocketed. Maybe it won't surprise anyone
who's made a trip to the pharmacy for prescription pills lately -
- but America's annual health care costs have risen from $74
billion dollars in 1970 to $800 billion dollars today. And
still, more than 30 million Americans have no insurance at all.
4
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money we need for
other vital public programs. //
-Edelete
Back in Washington, some of the political pundits say that
health care is a Democratic issue. Well, I don't believe that,
and I'll tell you why: We've got the compassion -- and the
common sense -- to change our system for the better. Health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
You see, I think that government is too big and it spends
too much. Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent
of all the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want
another huge clunk
CEA
to do is put the government in charge of 13 percent more of the
American economy. //
And yet that's what some people want: To nationalize our
health care system. Put government in control: let government
set prices, let government ration the kind of care people get --
how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. / Go the
government route, and you know what we'll get: A health care
system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office with
the compassion of the KGB. //
5
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB. " //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is six months. Need your
tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is 3 and
1/2 months. //
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes. //
But you won't hear about higher taxes from the folks pushing
that scheme. Ask them about the side-effects of their plan, and
they just say: Take two aspirin -- and call me after the
election. //
But there's another proposal out there that's every bit as
harmful to the economy. Maybe you've heard of it -- it's called
"Play or pay, " and here's what it means: Each employer must
"play" -- meaning: provide insurance for employees, or they can
"pay" -- a payroll tax to finance government health coverage.
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
businesses that are the heartbeat of this American economy
6
-- with a tough choice: One, cut workers' wages to pay for
mandated health care. Two, fire some workers and use the savings
to cover the rest. Or three: raise prices, and try to pass along
the cost to the consumer. Some reliable studies say a 7 percent
payroll tax will cost this country 700,000 jobs. Higher prices,
lower wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the
wrong prescription for America. //
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay.
It invites employers to stop offering health benefits, throw the
problem in the government's lap, and dump millions of working
Americans into a public plan like Medicaid. And because the new
payroll taxes in Play or Pay can't possibly pay for the program -
- you, the American taxpayer, will have to pick up the tab. //
The fact is: We can reform health care without pushing our
economy into intensive care. // We start with these objectives:
a health care system built on choice -- not government control.
One that keeps costs down -- and opens up access. But above all,
a health care system that gives all Americans real security --
security / that if they change jobs, if they or their kids
develop serious health problems, they'll still be able to count
on the coverage they need. //
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We can start making health care more accessible by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
7
dollars a year to help people buy private health insurance.
Middle-income individuals and families -- all the way up to those
making $80,000 dollars -- will get a health insurance tax
deduction. All told, that's new help to purchase health
insurance for 70 million Americans.
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
coverage. That family's total income is $10,000 -- low enough to
put them under the poverty line, but high enough to make them
ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family falls through
the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at all.
Under my plan, that would change: this family would qualify for
$3750 health care credit -- payable to the health care insurer of
their choice. / /
All together, my plan will bring health care coverage to
almost 30 million uninsured Americans -- security to people who,
for far too long, have had to do without. //
And as we open up health care to all Americans, we can cut
runaway costs -- by making the system more efficient. The key is
something we call Health Insurance Networks -- to pool small
businesses that too often can't afford to offer health insurance
to their workers, or worry that one worker's illness or accident
could drive everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Insurance costs obey the "law of large numbers:" The larger
the group being insured, the lower the cost per individual.
Think of it this way: What kind of a deal can you get bargaining
8
with the grocer to buy one box of cereal? Now let's say you got
together with everyone on your street, or better yet everyone in
your town, and then went back to buy cereal? You'd drive a
harder bargain and get a better price. The same thing works for
health care.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform. You shouldn't have to
pay a lawyer when you go to the doctor. Right now, people are
doing just that: High malpractice premiums mean higher doctors'
bills, higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to
the patient, but to every American taxpayer. [[Last year alone,
legal costs inflated our doctors bills by XX billion dollars. ]]
Some I know are skeptical -- they think the savings won't
add up. But I can tell you, when each year's health care costs
total more than what we spend on our kids' education and our
country's national defense -- combined -- even small changes can
save us billions.
I won't detail this morning the way the Health Insurance
Networks I mentioned will save money by helping cut red tape and
paperwork -- the way we'll simplify and speed up claims
processing, or bring the growth in government health programs
under control. But I will say this: If we made the changes I've
talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars in
the next four years. //
9
So today I challenge the Congress: Start with my small
business reforms -- with the package that will mean affordable,
quality health care for millions of Americans who don't have it
now, and pass my plan. And I ask all of you here to join me --
tell the Congress it's time to act. //
You know, when you're President, you get a lot of advice --
from all over the country, from people of all ages. Here's one
example, from a boy named Cory, 11 years old, on what a President
should do when you're fighting with Congress, and you just can't
get things done. Here's the quote: "Meet at the Capitol at
midnight, and check the Constitution to see who's right." //
Well, if it gets things done
maybe it's worth a try. /
I know there are those who say this nation has seen its best
day. They don't know the whole world still believes in America's
magic. They don't see the whole world thinks America is just
another way of saying
the future.
Now that the entire world is turning our way -- toward free
government, free markets, less bureaucracy, less red tape and
more competition -- we can't turn back. America will move
forward -- mold the future into a new American century.
We can lift this country to new heights, to new hope. And
we will build the strong, secure America we want to pass on to
our kids. //
Once again, my thanks for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may
God bless the United States of America.
# # #
TO
9/4
McGroarty (Walters/Bunton)
10:15am
September 3, 1992
**REVISED per R. ZOELLICK**
5:45 p.m.
[health]
Steve /Dan:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
HEALTH CARE
I think this is in pretty good
PAINESVILLE, OHIO
/
shape; pls see myedi
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
2) P/S see last pageth idea
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic [BENZ-ick]. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time Governor
Voinovich missed this event since 1966. He's on a trade mission
to South Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and
creating new jobs for Ohio workers. // I'm sure Korean spring
rolls taste great
but you can't put syrup on a spring roll.
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but 50 years
ago, when Gretel was a little girl, the war in Europe separated
her from her Mother. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need.
The survivors of Hurricane Andrew have been eating militay
Meals Ready to Eat T for 8 days. We have a cargo plane on stand-
by -- ready to descend on them with 500 pounds of Gretel's cake.
know
/won't
I don't think there 11 be a crumb left in sight.
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units [xxx and xxx], on route now
to southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painesville to help open this
year's Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups:
pancakes and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not a sprig of
broccoli to be seen. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Panama City to Prague, millions of men
and women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people
here today -- people who came to America from the Old Country --
who prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed --
this change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. So today I've set aside the standard Labor Day speech.
I want to do something a little different -- I want to take a few
minutes to speak to you about a serious matter, something you
I
hope
should be thinking about as you go into that voting booth
3
November 3rd: About the way we can change America's health care
system for the better. //
Think about the challenges we face as a nation: Anyone
concerned about America's competitiveness has to see controlling
health care spending as key to a healthy economy. / Think about
the concerns we have as parents: Health care -- for ourselves,
for our kids -- has to top the list. //
I want to tell you a story about a family from Dorset, Ohio
-- a family I first learned about when Tiffany McNally wrote me
at the White House two years ago. Tiffany just turned 16 last
week. Her Mom is healthy -- but her Dad has a rare blood
disease. So do her two sisters and her two brothers.
Tiffany doesn't have the blood disease -- you see, she was
adopted. But through her natural mother, Tiffany was born with
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. //
Tiffany's mom works part-time as a church secretary; her dad
is a utility worker. A single, routine visit to the doctor costs
more than Mrs. McNally earns all week. My point today isn't to
This is
tell you how tough things are in Tiffany's house. I'd say
really
keeping things together the way they do is a miracle -- but you
bad to
(subjune
ask the McNallys -- they'll say they "make do
=
No, I want to focus on one thing Tiffany and her family
were
shouldn't have to worry about: If Mr. McNally was laid off -- or
worse still, if he lost his job, well in Mrs. McNally's words:
"They'd be sunk." Let's say Mr. McNally found a new job -- a
better job -- but the catch was: No new health insurer would
4
carry him or his family. He'd have to stay put, and let that
opportunity pass him by.
Well, that is wrong. That's one of the things we've got to
change -- and that's why I want to see my plan passed. A story
like Tiffany's family's touches all of us. Because health care
reform isn't just about studies and cold statistics -- it's about
real worries / real lives.
Let's be clear: The one thing this crisis is not about is
quality of care. American health care is first-rate, number one
in the world. Since 1980, average life expectancy in America is
up -- infant mortality is down. Death rates from heart disease
are down. Deaths from stroke -- down. Part of the reason is one
of the best kept secrets in Washington: And that is that, since
I took office, we've increased funding for federal medical
research more than 150 percent, in everything from Alzheimers to
AIDS.
Right now, 200 million Americans have access to this quality
care system. But that high quality, high-tech medical care comes
at an unacceptable price: 34 million Americans have no insurance
at all -- and millions more are afraid to change jobs for fear of
losing the health insurance they've got. America's health care
costs now top $800 billion dollars a year -- and the cost is
rising two to three times the rate of inflation. //
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money you need for
5
other important family expenses. // That's why health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
This election year, health care is going to be a Republican
issue. // We've got a good program, and my Democratic opponents
are divided -- between two bad ones, both of which would put
government in charge of health care.
Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent of all
the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want to do
is put the government in charge of another huge chunk of the
American economy. // America simply cannot afford to take a
gamble on government-run health care. //
The fact is: We can reform the system without pushing our
economy into intensive care. 11 We start with these objectives:
an efficient health care system built on competition to control
costs -- not government control and rationing care. One that
keeps costs down -- and opens up access -- and allows choice in
care. But above all, a health care system that gives all
Americans real security -- security / that if they change jobs,
if they or their kids develop serious health problems, they'll
still be able to count on the coverage they need. //
We've got to build on the strengths of the present system:
on consumer choice, on innovation and state-of-the-art medicine -
- while controlling costs and expanding access.
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We start making health care more accessible -- by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
6
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
dollars a year that will guarantee a quality health insurance
package for the poor.
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
coverage. That family's total income is $13,000 -- low enough to
put them at the poverty line, but high enough to make them
ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family falls through
the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at all.
Under my plan, that would change: this family would qualify for
$3750 health care credit -- payable to the health care insurer of
their choice. (And large state insurance pools will ensure that
our credit will pay the full cost of a quality health plan.) //
For middle-income individuals and families -- all the way up
to those making $80,000 dollars -- my plan provides a health
insurance tax credit or deduction that will ease the burden of
health insurance costs. //
chk Iveseen
37-38
My plan will bring health care coverage to almost 30 million
uninsured Americans -- security to people who, for far too long,
have had to do without. And all told, my plan means new help for
nearly 95 million Americans now struggling to meet health care's
runaway costs.
My plan provides security to families like the McNallys and
others caught in what health care experts call "job lock" -- the
fear that because of "pre-existing medical conditions," changing
jobs will cost you and your family their health insurance.
7
My plan cuts runaway costs -- by making the system more
efficient. The key is something we call Health Insurance
Networks -- to pool together individuals and businesses that too
often can't afford to offer health insurance to their workers --
or that worry that one worker's illness or accident could drive
everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Here's how it works. Insurance costs obey the "law of large
numbers:" The larger the group being insured, the lower the cost
per individual -- the broader the risk is spread -- the lower the
Think of it the way: the more people on your side, the
administrative overhead.
Think of it this way: What kind of a
better bengers
Imminks
deal can you get bargaining with a dealer to buy one car? Now
you can
you
stark.
The anelogy is
let's say you got together with some friends -- or with a
will
purchasing co-op -- and then went back to negotiate with the car
fruits) scard
dealer? You'd drive a harder bargain -- and get the same car for
a better price. Well, the same thing works for health care.
)
We've got to use market forces to drive down costs and increase
efficiencies.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform.
You shouldn't have to pay a lawyer when you go to the
doctor. Right now, people are doing just that: High malpractice
premiums mean higher doctors' bills, expensive, unnecessary tests
and higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to the
patient, but to every American taxpayer. Last year alone, legal
costs inflated our doctors' bills by $20 billion dollars.
8
Some I know are skeptical -- they think the savings won't
add up. But I can tell you, when each year's health care costs
total more than what we spend on our kids' education and our
country's national defense -- combined -- even small changes can
save us billions. And if we made all the changes I've talked
about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars in the next
four years. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
And yet that's what some of my opponents want: To
nationalize our health care system. Put government in control:
let government fix prices, let government ration the kind of care
people get -- how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. /
Go the government route, and you know what we'll get: A health
care system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office
with the compassion of the KGB. //
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB." //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
9
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is up to six months. Need
your tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is
3 and 1/2 months. That's not the kind of system America wants or
needs.
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes. //
My opponent backs a plan that goes by a different name --
but in the end, takes you to the same place: Nationalized health
care. It's called "Play or pay, and here's what it means: Each
employer must "play" -- meaning: shell out for insurance for
employees, or "pay" -- extract a payroll tax to finance
government health coverage. //
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
businesses that are the heartbeat of this American economy
-- with two options none of us would envy: One, cut workers'
wages to pay for mandated health care. Or two, fire some workers
and use the savings to cover the rest. // According to an
independent Urban Institute study, a 7 percent payroll tax will
cost this country 700,000 jobs. For an employee earning $30,000
dollars a year -- that payroll tax would mean $2100 chopped out
of his paycheck. // Higher prices, lower wages, lost jobs: Any
way you look at it -- that's the wrong prescription for America.
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay
10
and pay again. " It invites employers to stop offering health
benefits, throw the problem in the government's lap, and dump
millions of working Americans into a public plan like Medicaid.
We can't afford to saddle ourselves with a health care cure
that's worse than the disease. Especially when we've got an
alternative for affordable health care for all Americans. //
Congress comes back from recess next Tuesday. I want to
start moving forward on reform. My opponents are divided -- even
they know their two proposals won't work. I say: Let Congress
start by passing my small business health care reforms -- a
package that will mean affordable, quality health care for
millions of Americans who don't have it now. Make it a Labor Day
present to the American worker. //
I know this morning I've asked you to hear me out on a
serious subject. But real health care reform is a matter --
literally -- of life and death importance to working men and
women and their families. / And I thought you should know that
one candidate sees health care reform as more than a slogan --
more than another excuse to make government bigger or take more
of your taxes.
On this Labor Day weekend, we should remember what Lincoln
called the true test of government: Whether it respected the
right of each one of us -- and I quote -- "to put into his own
mouth the bread that his own hands have earned." //
We don't respect that right by enlarging government. We
respect it by ensuring liberty -- protecting the freedom of each
11
individual to live and work as they see fit, the freedom of each
American family to live safe and secure. //
Once again, my thanks to Steve and Gretel and to all of you
for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may God bless the United States
of America.
# # #
Perhaps Hi time to start to ky the predicate for the Ark record. disuss
What do you think about working these ,dear in when you
Just Pay /play this year altentor (4/2/92) as" occasional" to the shill NYT Lealth - described care lines of & Clintons on sudden Arkansas has convented
One in 4 Arkansans than nationwise has - NO health / Pin insurer, 7) much
Her her lower for years : What it he le did does to Vegans
his Go promise there t does - for America what we be
Arkansa ? Then where will
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Demarest 92 SEP 4 A10: 44
Marla Dorahne 7845
P.3 do last not $ want to hut
the pharmacy's
wants to leave it
qeneric "health
care"
Clinton has focused
on phas. as creating
high costs
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
32
SEP 3 P5: 29
September 3, 1992
MEMORANDUM FOR DAN MCGROARTY
FROM:
STEPHEN G. RADEMAKER SR
ASSOCIATE COUNSEL TO THE PRESIDENT
SUBJECT:
Presidential Remarks: Labor Day Parade
Pursuant to Phillip Brady's request, Counsel's Office has
reviewed the above-referenced matter. We have no objection to
the draft presidential remarks.
CC: Phillip D. Brady
Document No. 348266
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
DATE:
09/02/92
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY: 2:00 p.m. 09/03
SUBJECT: PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: LABOR DAY PARADE, HAMTRAMCK, MI - 09/07
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MOORE
BAKER
MULLINS
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
PROVOST
BROMLEY
ROSS
CALIO
SMITH
DEMAREST
TUTWILER
FITZWATER
ZOELLICK
GRAY
MCGROARTY
KAUFMAN
HOLIDAY
HORNER
MCBRIDE
REMARKS:
Please provide any comments directly to Dan McGroarty no later than
2:00 p.m. on Thursday, 09/03, with a copy to this office. Thanks.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
348225SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
9/2/92
NOON, THURS., SEPT. 3
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MOORE
BAKER
MULLINS
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
PROVOST
BROMLEY
ROSS
CALIO
SMITH
DEMAREST
TUTWILER
FITZWATER
ZOELLICK
GRAY
KAUFMAN
HOLIDAY
BATES
BOSKIN
HORNER
MCBRIDE
MCGROARTY
REMARKS:
Please provide comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this
office NO LATER THAN NOON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
Comments given direct ding from
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
Seally to ME Bloorly
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Walters
September 2, 1992
4:00 p.m.
02 SEP 2 P4: 08
[health]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS:
HEALTH
CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time he's missed out
on Steve and Gretel's cooking since 1966 -- but he's got good
reason today. Governor Voinovich is on a trade mission to South
Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and creating new
jobs for Ohio workers. //
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but years
-
ago, when Gretel was 2 years old, the war in Europe separated her
from her family. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need. That's the best
in the American spirit: plenty of heart, always generous, always
ready to help neighbors in need. //]]
And after x-thousand Meals Ready to Eat, we may just airlift
Gretel's cake to Miami to take care of dessert. !!
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units XXXX and XXX, on route now to
southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painsville to help open this year's
Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups: pancakes
and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not one sprig of
broccoli in sight. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Managua to Moscow, millions of men and
women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people here
today -- people who came to America from the Old Country -- who
prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed -- this
change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. So today I've set aside the standard Labor Day speech.
I want to do something a little different -- I want to take a few
minutes to speak to you about a serious matter, something you
should be thinking about as you go into that voting booth
3
November 3rd: About the way we can change America's health care
system for the better. //
Think about the challenges we face as a nation: Anyone
concerned about America's competitiveness has to see controlling
health care costs as key to a healthy economy. / Think about
the concerns we have as parents: Health care -- for ourselves,
for our kids -- has to top the list. //
Maybe you're worried about what happens to your health care
if you change jobs -- or worse still, if you lose your job.
Maybe you've got a child with a long-term illness. You're
worried that if you leave your job -- even to take a better one -
- you'll lose your health care. [[LETTER FROM CLEVELAND GIRL,
TIFFANY MCNALLY, ON FAMILY'S HEALTH PROBLEMS
]] / /
The one thing this crisis is not about is quality of care.
American health care is first-rate, number one in the world.
Since 1980, average life expectancy in America is up -- infant
mortality is down. Deaths from heart disease are down. Deaths
from stroke -- down. One big reason is the [xx] percent increase
in federal medical research in everything from Alzheimers to
AIDS.
And right now, the vast majority of Americans have
access to this quality care system. But the cost we pay for
health care has skyrocketed. Maybe it won't surprise anyone
who's made a trip to the pharmacy for prescription pills lately -
- but America's annual health care costs have risen from $74
billion dollars in 1970 to $800 billion dollars today. And
still, more than 30 million Americans have no insurance at all.
4
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money we need for
other vital public programs. //
Back in Washington, some of the political pundits say that
health care is a Democratic issue. Well, I don't believe that,
and I'll tell you why: We've got the compassion -- and the
common sense -- to change our system for the better. Health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
You see, I think that government is too big and it spends
too much. Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent
of all the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want
to do is put the government in charge of 13 percent more of the
American economy. //
And yet that's what some people want: To nationalize our
health care system. Put government in control: let government
set prices, let government ration the kind of care people get --
how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. / Go the
government route, and you know what we'll get: A health care
system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office with
the compassion of the KGB. //
5
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB." //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is six months. Need your
tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is 3 and
1/2 months. //
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes. //
But you won't hear about higher taxes from the folks pushing
that scheme. Ask them about the side-effects of their plan, and
they just say: Take two aspirin -- and call me after the
election. //
But there's another proposal out there that's every bit as
harmful to the economy. Maybe you've heard of it -- it's called
"Play or pay, and here's what it means: Each employer must
"play" -- meaning: provide insurance for employees, or they can
"pay" -- a payroll tax to finance government health coverage.
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
businesses that are the heartbeat of this American economy
6
-- with a tough choice: One, cut workers' wages to pay for
mandated health care. Two, fire some workers and use the savings
to cover the rest. or three: raise prices, and try to pass along
the cost to the consumer. Some reliable studies say a 7 percent
payroll tax will cost this country 700,000 jobs. Higher prices,
lower wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the
wrong prescription for America. //
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay."
It invites employers to stop offering health benefits, throw the
problem in the government's lap, and dump millions of working
Americans into a public plan like Medicaid. And because the new
payroll taxes in Play or Pay can't possibly pay for the program -
- you, the American taxpayer, will have to pick up the tab. //
The fact is: We can reform health care without pushing our
economy into intensive care. // We start with these objectives:
a health care system built on choice -- not government control.
One that keeps costs down -- and opens up access. But above all,
a health care system that gives all Americans real security --
security / that if they change jobs, if they or their kids
develop serious health problems, they'll still be able to count
on the coverage they need. //
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We can start making health care more accessible by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
7
dollars a year to help people buy private health insurance.
Middle-income individuals and families -- all the way up to those
making $80,000 dollars -- will get a health insurance tax
deduction. All told, that's new help to purchase health
insurance for 70 million Americans.
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
coverage. That family's total income is $10,000 -- low enough to
put them under the poverty line, but high enough to make them
ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family falls through
the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at all.
Under my plan, that would change: this family would qualify for
$3750 health care credit -- payable to the health care insurer of
their choice. //
All together, my plan will bring health care coverage to
almost 30 million uninsured Americans -- security to people who,
for far too long, have had to do without. //
And as we open up health care to all Americans, we can cut
runaway costs -- by making the system more efficient. The key is
something we call Health Insurance Networks -- to pool small
businesses that too often can't afford to offer health insurance
to their workers, or worry that one worker's illness or accident
could drive everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Insurance costs obey the "law of large numbers:" The larger
the group being insured, the lower the cost per individual.
Think of it this way: What kind of a deal can you get bargaining
8
with the grocer to buy one box of cereal? Now let's say you got
together with everyone on your street, or better yet everyone in
your town, and then went back to buy cereal? You'd drive a
harder bargain and get a better price. The same thing works for
health care.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform. You shouldn't have to
pay a lawyer when you go to the doctor. Right now, people are
doing just that: High malpractice premiums mean higher doctors'
bills, higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to
the patient, but to every American taxpayer. [[Last year alone,
legal costs inflated our doctors bills by XX billion dollars. ]]
Some I know are skeptical --- they think the savings won't
add up. But I can tell you, when each year's health care costs
total more than what we spend on our kids' education and our
country's national defense -- combined -- even small changes can
save us billions.
I won't detail this morning the way the Health Insurance
Networks I mentioned will save money by helping cut red tape and
paperwork -- the way we'll simplify and speed up claims
processing, or bring the growth in government health programs
under control. But I will say this: If we made the changes I've
talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars in
the next four years. //
9
So today I challenge the Congress: Start with my small
business reforms -- with the package that will mean affordable,
quality health care for millions of Americans who don't have it
now, and pass my plan. And I ask all of you here to join me --
tell the Congress it's time to act. //
You know, when you're President, you get a lot of advice --
from all over the country, from people of all ages. Here's one
example, from a boy named Cory, 11 years old, on what a President
should do when you're fighting with Congress, and you just can't
get things done. Here's the quote: "Meet at the Capitol at
midnight, and check the Constitution to see who's right." //
Well, if it gets things done
...
maybe it's worth a try. /
I know there are those who say this nation has seen its best
day. They don't know the whole world still believes in America's
magic. They don't see the whole world thinks America is just
another way of saying ... the future.
Now that the entire world is turning our way -- toward free
government, free markets, less bureaucracy, less red tape and
more competition -- we can't turn back. America will move
forward -- mold the future into a new American century.
We can lift this country to new heights, to new hope. And
we will build the strong, secure America we want to pass on to
our kids. //
Once again, my thanks for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may
God bless the United States of America.
# # #
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
Its smT!
Gail - -
gee for
days
mil
Would you please take
a look at this? If you
find any factual addities
or unclear language, please
call me or Jeannie Bunton
at x 7750.
Thanks,
Ed Walters
Speechwriting
McGroarty/Walters
September 2, 1992
4:00 p.m.
[health]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time he's missed out
on Steve and Gretel's cooking since 1966 -- but he's got good
reason today. Governor Voinovich is on a trade mission to South
Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and creating new
jobs for Ohio workers. //
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but years
-
ago, when Gretel was 2 years old, the war in Europe separated her
from her family. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue --- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need. That's the best
in the American spirit: plenty of heart, always generous, always
ready to help neighbors in need. //]]
And after x-thousand Meals Ready to Eat, we may just airlift
Gretel's cake to Miami to take care of dessert. //
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units XXXX and XXX, on route now to
southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painsville to help open this year's
Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups: pancakes
and syrup / bratwurst and beer. 11 And not one sprig of
broccoli in sight. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Managua to Moscow, millions of men and
women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people here
today -- people who came to America from the Old Country -- who
prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed -- this
change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. So today I've set aside the standard Labor Day speech.
I want to do something a little different -- I want to take a few
minutes to speak to you about a serious matter, something you
should be thinking about as you go into that voting booth
3
November 3rd: About the way we can change America's health care
system for the better. //
Think about the challenges we face as a nation: Anyone
concerned about America's competitiveness has to see controlling
spending
health care costs as key to a healthy economy. / Think about
the concerns we have as parents: Health care -- for ourselves,
for our kids -- has to top the list. //
Maybe you're worried about what happens to your health care
if you change jobs -- or worse still, if you lose your job.
serious
Maybe you've got a child with a long-term illness. You're
worried that if you leave your job -- even to take a better one -
- you'll lose your health care. [[LETTER FROM CLEVELAND GIRL,
TIFFANY MCNALLY, ON FAMILY'S HEALTH PROBLEMS
]] //
The one thing this crisis is not about is quality of care.
American health care is first-rate, number one in the world.
Since 1980, average life expectancy in America is up -- infant
mortality is down. Deaths from heart disease are down. Deaths
from stroke -- down. One big reason is the [xx] percent increase
in federal medical research in everything from Alzheimers to
AIDS.
And right now, the vast majority of Americans have
access to this quality care system. But the cost we pay for
health care has skyrocketed. Maybe it won't surprise anyone
doctnath
who's made a trip to the pharmacy for prescription pills lately -
^
- but America's annual health care costs have risen from $74
billion dollars in 1970 to $800 billion dollars today. And
still, more than 30 million Americans have no insurance at all.
4
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money we need for
other vital public programs. //
Back in Washington, some of the political pundits say that
health care is a Democratic issue. Well, I don't believe that,
and I'll tell you why: We've got the compassion -- and the
common sense -- to change our system for the better. Health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
You see, I think that government is too big and it spends
too much. Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent
of all the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want
to do is put the government in charge of 13 percent more of the
American economy. / /
And yet that's what some people want: To nationalize our
health care system. Put government in control: let government
set prices, let government ration the kind of care people get --
how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. / Go the
government route, and you know what we'll get: A health care
system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office with
the compassion of the KGB.
//
lugh!
Jo where
This
IRS
medbetter
in
5
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB." //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is six months. Need your
tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is 3 and
1/2 months. //
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes. //
But you won't hear about higher taxes from the folks pushing
that scheme. Ask them about the side-effects of their plan, and
they just say: Take two aspirin -- and call me after the
election. //
But there's another proposal out there that's every bit as
harmful to the economy. Maybe you've heard of it -- it's called
"Play or pay, " and here's what it means: Each employer must
"play" -- meaning: provide insurance for employees, or they can
"pay" -- a payroll tax to finance government health coverage.
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
businesses that are the heartbeat of this American economy
6
-- with a tough choice: One, cut workers' wages to pay for
mandated health care. Two, fire some workers and use the savings
to cover the rest. Or three: raise prices, and try to pass along
the cost to the consumer. Some reliable studies say a 7 percent
payroll tax will cost this country 700,000 jobs. Higher prices,
lower wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the
wrong prescription for America. //
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay."
It invites employers to stop offering health benefits, throw the
problem in the government's lap, and dump millions of working
Americans into a public plan like Medicaid. And because the new
payroll taxes in Play or Pay can't possibly pay for the program -
- you, the American taxpayer, will have to pick up the tab. //
The fact is: We can reform health care without pushing our
economy into intensive care. // We start with these objectives:
a health care system built on choice -- not government control.
One that keeps costs down -- and opens up access. But above all,
a health care system that gives all Americans real security --
security / that if they change jobs, if they or their kids
develop serious health problems, they'll still be able to count
on the coverage they need. //
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We can start making health care more accessible by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
7
dollars a year to help people buy private health insurance.
Middle-income individuals and families -- all the way up to those
making $80,000 dollars -- will get a health insurance tax
deduction. All told, that's new help to purchase health
insurance for 70 million Americans.
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
coverage. That family's total income is $10,000 -- low enough to
put them under the poverty line, but high enough to make them
ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family falls through
the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at all.
Under my plan, that would change: this family would qualify for
$3750 health care credit -- payable to the health care insurer of
their choice. 11
All together, my plan will bring health care coverage to
almost 30 million uninsured Americans -- security to people who,
for far too long, have had to do without. //
And as we open up health care to all Americans, we can cut
runaway costs -- by making the system more efficient. The key is
something we call Health Insurance Networks -- to pool small
businesses that too often can't afford to offer health insurance
to their workers, or worry that one worker's illness or accident
could drive everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Insurance costs obey the "law of large numbers:" The larger
the group being insured, the lower the cost per individual.
Think of it this way: What kind of a deal can you get bargaining
8
with the grocer to buy one box of cereal? Now let's say you got
together with everyone on your street, or better yet everyone in
your town, and then went back to buy cereal? You'd drive a
harder bargain and get a better price. The same thing works for
health care.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform. You shouldn't have to
pay a lawyer when you go to the doctor. Right now, people are
doing just that: High malpractice premiums mean higher doctors'
bills, higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to
the patient, but to every American taxpayer.
[[Last year alone,
legal costs inflated our doctors bills by XX billion dollars. ]]
Some I know are skeptical -- they think the savings won't
add up. But I can tell you, when each year's health care costs
total more than what we spend on our kids' education and our
country's national defense -- combined -- even small changes can
save us billions.
I won't detail this morning the way the Health Insurance
Networks I mentioned will save money by helping cut red tape and
paperwork -- the way we'll simplify and speed up claims
processing, or bring the growth in government health programs
under control. But I will say this: If we made the changes I've
talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars in
the next four years. //
9
So today I challenge the Congress: Start with my small
business reforms -- with the package that will mean affordable,
quality health care for millions of Americans who don't have it
now, and pass my plan. And I ask all of you here to join me --
tell the Congress it's time to act. //
You know, when you're President, you get a lot of advice --
from all over the country, from people of all ages. Here's one
example, from a boy named Cory, 11 years old, on what a President
should do when you're fighting with Congress, and you just can't
get things done. Here's the quote: "Meet at the Capitol at
midnight, and check the Constitution to see who's right." //
Well, if it gets things done maybe it's worth a try. /
I know there are those who say this nation has seen its best
day. They don't know the whole world still believes in America's
magic. They don't see the whole world thinks America is just
another way of saying
the future.
Now that the entire world is turning our way -- toward free
government, free markets, less bureaucracy, less red tape and
more competition -- we can't turn back. America will move
forward -- mold the future into a new American century.
We can lift this country to new heights, to new hope. And
we will build the strong, secure America we want to pass on to
our kids. //
Once again, my thanks for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may
God bless the United States of America.
# # #
H.R.411
S.B. credit enhancement.
Signit at event fomorrow?
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
92 SEP 3 P1:55
Holiday
"Health Care"
Paul
p.4 3rd H
our hospitals
healthcare
HAS
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 :12:49PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:# 1
348225SS
92 SEP 3 PI: 20
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
-
DATE:
9/2/92
NOON, THURS., SEPT. 3
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MOORE
BAKER
MULLINS
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
PROVOST
BROMLEY
ROSS
CALIO
SMITH
DEMAREST
TUTWILER
FITZWATER
ZOELLICK
GRAY
KAUFMAN
Extended Page
1.1
BATES
HOLIDAY
BOSKIN
HORNER
MCGROARTY
MCBRIDE
REMARKS:
Please provide comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this
office NO LATER THAN NOON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3.
faxed
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
see comments
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 12:50PM ;
4562983->
2024566218:# 2
McGroarty/Walters
September 2, 1992
4:00 p.m.
02 SEP 2 P4: 08
[health]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic. //
I bring greetings today from your Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time he's missed out
on Steve and Gretel's cooking since 1966 -- but he's got good
reason today. Governor Voinovich is on a trade mission to South
Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and creating new
jobs for Ohio workers. //
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but - years
ago, when Gretel was 2 years old, the war in Europe separated her
from her family. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Extended Page
2.1
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need. That's the best
in the American spirit: plenty of heart, always generous, always
ready to help neighbors in need. //]]
And after x-thousand Meals Ready to Eat, we may just airlift
Gretel's cake to Miami to take care of dessert. 11
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units XXXX and xxx, on route now to
southern Florida. 11
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 :12:50PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:# 3
2
It's great to be here in Painsville to help open this year's
Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups: pancakes
and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not one sprig of
broccoli in sight. 11
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Managua to Moscow, millions of men and
women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people here
today -- people who came to America from the Old Country -- who
prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed -- this
change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
Extended Page
3.1
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. So today I've set aside the standard Labor Day speech.
I want to do something a little different -- I want to take a few
minutes to speak to you about a serious matter, something you
should be thinking about as you go into that voting booth
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 :12:51PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:# 4
3
November 3rd: About the way we can change America's health care
system for the better. //
Think about the challenges we face as a nation: Anyone
concerned about America's competitiveness has to see controlling
health care costs as key to a healthy economy. / Think about
the concerns we have as parents: Health care -- for ourselves,
for our kids -- has to top the list. //
Maybe you're worried about what happens to your health care
if you change jobs -- or worse still, if you lose your job.
Maybe you've got a child with a long-term illness. You're
worried that if you leave your job -- even to take a better one .
- you'll lose your health care. [[LETTER FROM CLEVELAND GIRL,
TIFFANY MCNALLY, ON FAMILY'S HEALTH PROBLEMS 1] //
The one thing this crisis is not about is quality of care.
American health care is first-rate, number one in the world.
Since 1980, average life expectancy in America is up -- infant
mortality is down. Deaths from heart disease are down. Deaths
Extended Page
4.1
from stroke -- down. One big reason is the [XX] percent increase
one Ju
.f
inAfederal medical research in everything from Alzheimers to
AIDS.
And right now, the vast majority of Americans have
access to this quality care system. But the cost we pay for
health care has skyrocketed. Maybe it won't surprise anyone
feder
who's made a trip to the pharmacy for prescription pills lately -
= but America's annual health care costs have risen from $74
bacheck
billion dollars in 1970 to $800 billion dollars today. And
still, more than 30 million Americans have no insurance at all.
The
alla wenveil it' but a In the etud here careo GB
V
SENI DT.Aerox lelecopier 7020 ; g- 3-92 :12:52PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:# 5
4
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money we need for
other vital public programs. //
Back in Washington, some of the political pundits say that
health care is a Democratic issue. Well, I don't believe that,
always had
and I'll tell you why: We've got the compassion -- and the
but now we have the opportunity
common sense nto change our system for the better. Health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
You see, I think that government is too big and it spends
too much. Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent
of all the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want
to do is put the government in charge of 13 percent more of the
Extended Page
5.1
American economy. //
And yet that's what some people want: To nationalize our
health care system. Put government in control: let government
set prices, let government ration the kind of care people get --
how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. / Go the
government route, and you know what we'll get: A health care
system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office with
the compassion of the KGB.
.
played I think poly delete.
11 this has
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 :12:53PM ;
4562983->
2024566218:# 6
5
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB. 11
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is six months. Need your
tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is 3 and
1/2 months. 11
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes. //
But you won't hear about higher taxes from the folks pushing
that scheme. Ask them about the side-effects of their plan, and
Extended Page
6.1
they just say: Take two aspirin -- and call me after the
election. 11
But there's another proposal out there that's every bit as
harmful to the economy. Maybe you've heard of it -- it's called
"Play or pay, " and here's what it means: Each employer must
"play" -- meaning: provide insurance for employees, or they can
"pay" -- a payroll tax to finance government health coverage.
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
AS you
businesses that are the heartbeat of this American economy
Play can is or or Pay. provide is word about a for or money but or as hucks with the for
see pay for
really Prin how pay doll come
SENT BY:Xerox lelecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 :12:53PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:# 7
6
-- with a tough choice: One, cut workers' wages to pay for
mandated health care. Two, fire some workers and use the savings
to cover the rest. Or three: raise prices, and try to pass along
the cost to the consumer. Some reliable studies say a 7 percent
payroll tax will cost this country 700,000 jobs. Higher prices,
lower wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the
wrong prescription for America. //
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay."
It invites employers to stop offering health benefits, throw the
problem in the government's lap, and dump millions of working
Americans into a public plan like Medicaid. And because the new
payroll taxes in Play or Pay can't possibly pay for the program -
- you, the American taxpayer, will have to pick up the tab. //
The fact is: We can reform health care without pushing our
economy into intensive care. // We start with these objectives:
a health care system built on choice -- not government control.
Extended Page
7.1
One that keeps costs down -- and opens up access. But above all,
a health care system that gives all Americans real security --
security / that if they change jobs, if they or their kids
develop serious health problems, they'll still be able to count
on the coverage they need. 11
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We can start making health care more accessible by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 12:54PM ;
4562983->
2024566218:# 8
7
dollars a year to help people buy private health insurance.
Middle-income individuals and families -- all the way up to those
making $80,000 dollars -- will get a health insurance tax
deduction. All told, that's new help to purchase health
insurance for 70 million Americans.
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
coverage. That family's total income is $10,000 -- low enough to
put them under the poverty line, but high enough to make them
ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family falls through
the cracks --- can't afford any health care coverage at all.
Under my plan, that would change: this family would qualify for
$3750 health care credit -- payable to the health care insurer of
their choice. //
All together, my plan will bring health care coverage to
almost 30 million uninsured Americans -- security to people who,
for far too long, have had to do without. //
Extended Page
8.1
And as we open up health care to all Americans, we can cut
runaway costs -- by making the system more efficient. The key is
something we call Health Insurance Networks -- to pool small
businesses that too often can't afford to offer health insurance
to their workers, or worry that one worker's illness or accident
could drive everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Insurance costs obey the "law of large numbers:" The larger
the group being insured, the lower the cost per individual.
Think of it this way: What kind of a deal can you get bargaining
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 12:55PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:# 9
or
why
the
pharmacest
one bottle 8 of vitamins etc
with the groeer to buy one box of cereal? Now let's say you got
together with everyone on your street, or better yet everyone in
your town, and then went back to buy cereal? You'd drive a
harder bargain and get a better price. The same thing works for
health care.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform. You shouldn't have to
pay a lawver when you go to the doctor. Right now, people are
doing just that: High malpractice premiums mean higher doctors'
bills, higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to
the patient, but to every American taxpayer. [[Last year alone,
legal costs inflated our doctors bills by XX billion dollars.]]
Some I know are skeptical -- they think the savings won't
add up. But I can tell you, when each year's health care costs
total more than what we spend on our kids' education and our
country's national defense -- combined -- even small changes can
Extended Page
9.1
save us billions.
I won't detail this morning the way the Health Insurance
Networks I mentioned will save money by helping cut red tape and
paperwork -- the way we'll simplify and speed up claims
processing, or bring the growth in government health programs
under control. But I will say this: If we made the changes I've
talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars in
the next four years. 11
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 ; 9- 3-92 :12:55PM ;
4562983-
2024566218:#10
9
So today I challenge the Congress: Start with my small
business reforms -- with the package that will mean affordable,
quality health care for millions of Americans who don't have it
now, and pass my plan. And I ask all of you here to join me --
tell the Congress it's time to act. 11
You know, when you're President, you get a lot of advice --
from all over the country, from people of all ages. Here's one
example, from a boy named Cory, 11 years old, on what a President
should do when you're fighting with Congress, and you just can't
get things done. Here's the quote: "Meet at the Capitol at
midnight, and check the Constitution to see who's right." 11
Well, if it gets things done maybe it's worth a try. /
I know there are those who say this nation has seen its best
day. They don't know the whole world still believes in America's
magic. They don't see the whole world thinks America is just
another way of saying ... the future.
Now that the entire world is turning our way -- toward free
NOW
Extended Page 10. 1
government, free markets, less bureaucracy, less red tape and
more competition -- we can't turn back. America will move
forward -- mold the future into a new American century.
We can lift this country to new heights, to new hope. And
we will build the strong, secure America we want to pass on to
our kids. //
Once again, my thanks for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may
God bless the United States of America.
# # #
lov Neunis for clearance.
348225SS AC
Document No.
DR
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORAN
-
9/2/92
3 18.36
NOON, THURS., SEPT. 3
DATE:
DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SUBJECT:
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MOORE
BAKER
MULLINS
SCOWCROFT
PETERSMEYER
DARMAN
PORTER
BRADY
PROVOST
BROMLEY
ROSS
CALIO
SMITH
DEMAREST
TUTWILER
FITZWATER
ZOELLICK
GRAY
KAUFMAN
HOLIDAY
BATES
BOSKIN
HORNER
MCGROARTY
MCBRIDE
REMARKS:
Please provide comments on the attached directly to
Dan McGroarty, Rm. 122, x2930, with a copy to this
office NO LATER THAN NOON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3.
Thank you.
RESPONSE:
PHILLIP D. BRADY
Assistant to the President
and Staff Secretary
Ext. 2702
McGroarty/Walters
September 2, 1992
4:00 p.m.
02 CEP 2 P4: 08
[health]
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: HEALTH CARE
PAINSVILLE, OHIO
SEPTEMBER 5, 1992
9:30 A.M.
[Acknowledgements.] And of course, hats off to our hosts -
- Steve and Gretel Bencic. //
I bring greetings today from your-Governor and my good
friend, George Voinovich. This is the first time he's missed out
on Steve and Gretel's cooking since 1966 -- but he's got good
reason today. Governor Voinovich is on a trade mission to South
Korea -- opening new markets for Ohio goods, and creating new
jobs for Ohio workers. //
[[You've all seen Gretel's cake, but you may not know the
story behind it. I don't want to give away her age, but years
-
ago, when Gretel was 2 years old, the war in Europe separated her
from her family. The Red Cross came to Gretel's rescue -- so
today she's returning the favor, to help the people of South
Florida and Louisiana in their moment of need. That's the best
in the American spirit: plenty of heart, always generous, always
ready to help neighbors in need. //]]
And after x-thousand Meals Ready to Eat, we may just airlift
Gretel's cake to Miami to take care of dessert. !!
[[And I want to salute today the contingents of Ohio's
finest -- Ohio National Guard units XXXX and xxx, on route now to
southern Florida. ]]
2
It's great to be here in Painsville to help open this year's
Oktoberfest. You've got the four basic food groups: pancakes
and syrup / bratwurst and beer. // And not one sprig of
broccoli in sight. //
This festival has always been a celebration of cultures --
but this year, in a very special way, it is a celebration of the
spirit. We've witnessed a world of change. Across Europe,
across continents, from Managua to Moscow, millions of men and
women now celebrate a new birth of freedom. For the people here
today -- people who came to America from the Old Country -- who
prayed for this day to come, the change we've witnessed -- this
change we've worked for -- is a miracle come true.
There are those -- to quote the poet -- who will say that
the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is
nothing but a dream.
And they are right. / It is the American Dream.
Today, our challenge is to bring that spirit home -- home
from the towns your parents and grandparents were born in, to
this new world we call America. To focus this great nation on
the new mission at hand. //
I know the main attraction this morning is pancakes, not
politics. So today I've set aside the standard Labor Day speech.
I want to do something a little different -- I want to take a few
minutes to speak to you about a serious matter, something you
should be thinking about as you go into that voting booth
3
November 3rd: About the way we can change America's health care
system for the better. //
Think about the challenges we face as a nation: Anyone
concerned about America's competitiveness has to see controlling
health care costs as key to a healthy economy. / Think about
the concerns we have as parents: Health care -- for ourselves,
for our kids -- has to top the list. //
Maybe you're worried about what happens to your health care
if you change jobs -- or worse still, if you lose your job.
Maybe you've got a child with a long-term illness. You're
worried that if you leave your job -- even to take a better one -
- you'll lose your health care. [[LETTER FROM CLEVELAND GIRL,
TIFFANY MCNALLY, ON FAMILY'S HEALTH PROBLEMS ]] //
The one thing this crisis is not about is quality of care.
American health care is first-rate, number one in the world.
Since 1980, average life expectancy in America is up -- infant
mortality is down. Deaths from heart disease are down. Deaths
from stroke -- down. One big reason is the [xx] percent increase
in federal medical research in everything from Alzheimers to
AIDS.
And right now, the vast majority of Americans have
access to this quality care system. But the cost we pay for
health care has skyrocketed. Maybe it won't surprise anyone
who's made a trip to the pharmacy for prescription pills lately -
- but America's annual health care costs have risen from $74
billion dollars in 1970 to $800 billion dollars today. And
still, more than 30 million Americans have no insurance at all.
4
And don't kid yourselves. We all pay for high health care
costs -- more than once. High health costs are a drag on our
economy -- drive up the deficit -- and soak up money we need for
other vital public programs. //
Back in Washington, some of the political pundits say that
health care is a Democratic issue. Well, I don't believe that,
and I'll tell you why: We've got the compassion -- and the
common sense -- to change our system for the better. Health care
reform is a key part of my agenda for economic security. //
I listen to the American people. You want to know you've
got insurance you can count on -- whether you keep your job /
lose your job / or change your job. I don't hear you calling for
higher taxes to finance a government take-over of our hospitals.
You see, I think that government is too big and it spends
too much. Right now, the cost of health care eats up 13 percent
of all the goods and services we produce. The last thing I want
to do is put the government in charge of 13 percent more of the
American economy. //
And yet that's what some people want: To nationalize our
health care system. Put government in control: let government
set prices, let government ration the kind of care people get --
how much, what kind, and when they'll get it. / Go the
government route, and you know what we'll get: A health care
system that combines the efficiency of the House Post Office with
the compassion of the KGB.
//
5
You know, that comparison made a few people hot under the
collar. I even got one letter from Russia telling me: "Quit
running down the KGB." //
Nationalize health care, and here's what we're in for: Long
waiting lists for surgery -- shortages of the high-tech equipment
responsible for so many of the miracles of modern medicine. One
example: Right now, the Cleveland Clinic performs 10 coronary
bypass surgeries a day. High tech, high quality surgery --
without any wait. But if you live across Lake Erie in Canada,
the wait for coronary bypass surgery is six months. Need your
tonsils out? Take a number: The waiting list in Canada is 3 and
1/2 months. // Do we want that?
And then there's the cost. According to some studies,
nationalized health care would mean a whopping $250 to $500
billion dollars a year in new taxes. //
But you won't hear about higher taxes from the folks pushing
that scheme. Ask them about the side-effects of their plan, and
they just say: Take two aspirin -- and call me after the
election. //
But there's another proposal out there that's every bit as
harmful to the economy. Maybe you've heard of it -- it's called
"Play or pay,' and here's what it means: Each employer must
"play" -- meaning: provide insurance for employees, or they can
"pay" -- a payroll tax to finance government health coverage.
Well, Play or Pay will leave a lot of small businesses --
businesses that are the heartbeat of this American economy
6
-- with a tough choice: One, cut workers' wages to pay for
mandated health care. Two, fire some workers and use the savings
to cover the rest. or three: raise prices, and try to pass along
the cost to the consumer. Some reliable studies say a 7 percent
payroll tax will cost this country 700,000 jobs. Higher prices,
lower wages, lost jobs: Any way you look at it -- that's the
wrong prescription for America. //
In the end, "Play or pay" is really no different from
anlpay
nationalized health care. I'm tempted to call it "pay and pay,"
again
It invites employers to stop offering health benefits, throw the
problem in the government's lap, and dump millions of working
Americans into a public plan like Medicaid. And because the new
payroll taxes in Play or Pay can't possibly pay for the program -
- you, the American taxpayer, will have to pick up the tab. //
The fact is: We can reform health care without pushing our
economy into intensive care. // We start with these objectives:
a health care system built on choice -- not government control.
and real affordablety.
One that keeps costs down -- and opens up access But above all,
a health care system that gives all Americans real security --
security / that if they change jobs, if they or their kids
develop serious health problems, they'll still be able to count
on the coverage they need. //
My plan meets every one of these objectives.
We can start making health care more accessible by making
health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and
families, I propose a health insurance credit -- up to $3,750
7
dollars a year to help people buy private health insurance.
Middle-income individuals and families -- all the way up to those
making $80,000 dollars -- will get~a health insurance tax
deduction. All told, that's new help to purchase health
insurance for 70 million Americans. (check the I it the-fal
Take a family of two parents with a child: One working
95
parent -- employed by a company that doesn't provide health
coverage. That family's total income is $10,000 -- low enough to
put them under the poverty line, but high enough to make them
ineligible for Medicaid. / Right now, that family falls through
the cracks -- can't afford any health care coverage at all.
Under my plan, that would change: this family would qualify for
$3750 health care credit -- payable to the health care insurer of
their choice. //
All together, my plan will bring health care coverage to
34 million
almost 30 million uninsured Americans -- security to people who,
for far too long, have had to do without. //
And as we open up health care to all Americans, we can cut
runaway costs -- by making the system more efficient. The key is
something we call Health Insurance Networks -- to pool small
businesses that too often can't afford to offer health insurance
to their workers, or worry that one worker's illness or accident
could drive everyone's health insurance through the roof.
Insurance costs obey the "law of large numbers:" The larger
the group being insured, the lower the cost per individual.
Think of it this way: What kind of a deal can you get bargaining
8
with the grocer to buy one box of cereal? Now let's say you got
together with everyone on your street, or better yet everyone in
your town, and then went back to buy cereal? You'd drive a
harder bargain and get a better price. The same thing works for
health care.
We're also going to cut health care costs by wringing out
waste and excess in the present system. That's why we've
targeted malpractice insurance for reform. You shouldn't have to
pay a lawyer when you go to the doctor. Right now, people are
doing just that: High malpractice premiums mean higher doctors'
expension, unaccessing tests,
bills, / higher hospital costs -- costs passed along not only to
the patient, but to every American taxpayer. [[Last year alone,
legal costs inflated our doctors bills by XX billion dollars. ]]
Some I know are skeptical -- they think the savings won't
add up. But I can tell you, when each year's health care costs
total more than what we spend on our kids' education and our
country's national defense -- combined -- even small changes can
save us billions.
I won't detail this morning the way the Health Insurance
Networks I mentioned will save money by helping cut red tape and
paperwork -- the way we'll simplify and speed up claims
Through electronic billing,
processing L or bring the growth in government health programs
under control. But I will say this: If we made the changes I've
talked about, my plan would save nearly 400 billion dollars in
the next four years. //
Save money reduce the escalating cosh of health core, and
bring affordable and secure health care to all That's what
my compreheneror plan for health care offer.
9
So today I challenge the Congress: Start with my small
business reforms -- with the package that will mean affordable,
quality health care for millions of Americans who don't have it
now, and pass my plan. And I ask all of you here to join me --
tell the Congress it's time to act. //
You know, when you're President, you get a lot of advice --
from all over the country, from people of all ages. Here's one
example, from a boy named Cory, 11 years old, on what a President
should do when you're fighting with Congress, and you just can't
get things done. Here's the quote: "Meet at the Capitol at
midnight, and check the Constitution to see who's right." //
Well, if it gets things done
...
maybe it's worth a try. /
I know there are those who say this nation has seen its best
day. They don't know the whole world still believes in America's
magic. They don't see the whole world thinks America is just
another way of saying ... the future.
Now that the entire world is turning our way -- toward free
government, free markets, less bureaucracy, less red tape and
more competition -- we can't turn back. America will move
forward -- mold the future into a new American century.
We can lift this country to new heights, to new hope. And
we will build the strong, secure America we want to pass on to
our kids. //
Once again, my thanks for this warm Ohio welcome -- and may
God bless the United States of America.
# # #