Bill Clinton: “Well now, I think the numbers do add up. Some small businesses will pay more, plainly. Those who aren't paying anything…”

“Well now, I think the numbers do add up. Some small businesses will pay more, plainly. Those who aren't paying anything and those who are paying less than they would otherwise pay under the initial premiums set unless we are able to--our estimate unless in the bargaining power they'll even be able to bargain for lower prices, which is conceivable. But we have to start out with something. But there's a lot of talk about these numbers not being--I'd just like to tell you what we've done over the last 7 months. Number one, for the first time we've got four Government Departments that agree on the numbers, that the numbers are accurate at least, and we have run these numbers through 10 actuarial firms, private sector firms. So we have tried to get at least the first set of numbers that have ever been through this sort of vetting process from any private or public agency on health care. No one else has ever done as much work as we have tried to do to make sure the numbers work out. Keep in mind, we proposed for the Government to cover the uninsured who are unemployed. We believe you can't get costs under control and stop cost shifting unless you have some means of insuring everybody else. We believe employers should do something. There are those who may have to pay more because their premiums are quite low, and we're going to increase the coverage substantially. But all of our surveys show that is a distinct minority of the people who provide any insurance now, that many people who provide insurance now will actually get, unbelievably enough, lower premiums and more coverage. But some will pay more. I don't want to minimize that; some will. What I think all of you are going to have to do is two things. You're going to have to read the plan when you get the details, when we finally produce it, and say, ``How's this going to affect me, and can I live with it?'' And then you're going to have to say, ``How will it affect the small business sector of the economy as a whole, and are we net better off?'' And more importantly, I would argue to you that even those of you-- let's suppose there's an employer here in this group who will go from 6 percent of payroll to 7.9 percent of payroll. If you look at where you've come in the last 5 years, if we don't do something to bring these costs under control, you're facing one of two decisions. You're either going to have to drop your coverage altogether with all the attendant insecurities and anxieties and problems that presents for your employees, or your costs are going to go through the roof. So my argument is--I really believe this, this goes back to the very first question Barry asked--my argument is that in 5 years from now, even the people who pay slightly more now will be better off because the overall system's costs will be controlled for the first time, and we're not going to be strangled with it. That's why we tried to at least do a phase-in for the smaller employers. [A participant claimed the new plan would result in job loss due to increased health care costs for small businesses.]”