Bill Clinton: “Absolutely. And we will also bring doctors into the process. But let me answer the second question first. Last year…”

“Absolutely. And we will also bring doctors into the process. But let me answer the second question first. Last year there were two major suggestions made for health care reform by physicians groups, the American College of Physicians and the American Academy of Family Practice. A more modest but still significant program was offered by the American Medical Association. And the American Nurses Association put out a very interesting plan. And I think all of those things should have a big influence on what we do, because in the end it's the doctors and the other health care providers that have to live with whatever system we put out. So the answer to your question is yes, those suggestions, and in particular the two you mentioned, are being taken very seriously. Second, on cutting the cost of malpractice, that's a big issue with me. I'm proud of the fact that my State had the second lowest malpractice rates in the country. And one of the things we did was to pass a law enabling the court to fine anyone who brought a frivolous tort suit, if it was judged to be frivolous, that the lawyer himself or herself could actually be fined. Not a big fine, but it had a real impact. The other thing I think that has real promise is an experiment that I believe is now being tried in Maine and one or two other places which really relates to family practitioners, because we cannot get medical reform in this country unless family practitioners, family doctors, feel freer to set simple fractures, to get back into the business of delivering babies, to do that whole range of things. The thing that a lot of people are working on now is being able to say to doctors in small towns and rural areas, for example, here are a set of accepted practice guidelines for this procedure or that procedure. If you can show that you have followed these guidelines, that will raise a presumption against malpractice for you. I think that has real promise. The third thing in really expensive areas is, we might all look at what's been done in the vaccine area. That really worked, where people just pay a fee into a fund and a big national fund is set up. And if there's a problem, you go against that fund; you don't have to go through a whole prolonged lawsuit with an insurance company, a lawyer, a doctor, and all the lawyers and all that. That's something else that I think we need to look at to see if that might have more general application. Economic Program”