Bill Clinton: “I am very open to that, Governor Nelson. For one thing, if you look at it, some States--we've got a couple of States…”

“I am very open to that, Governor Nelson. For one thing, if you look at it, some States--we've got a couple of States besides Hawaii that are already at or above 90 percent, where they can imagine themselves reaching, through various mechanisms, 95 percent, 96 percent, 97 percent coverage. As I said, I think we have moved in Social Security. We were at 97 percent Social Security for many years. I think we're just by improvements in bookkeeping, up to a little above 98 percent now. So we know we're not going to get right at 100 percent, but we know that you've got to get somewhere in the ballpark of 95 percent or upwards so you stop the cost shifting and you have economies of scale for all of the small businesses that are participating. But there are differences. The economic realities and the demographic realities are so different from State to State, I think you're going to have to have some more flexibility. And I'm quite open on that, to doing some more on that. [Gov. Brereton Jones of Kentucky stressed the importance of achieving universal coverage at the Federal rather than the State level and questioned the strength of Senator Bob Dole's commitment to the concept.]”