Bill Clinton: “Let me answer the insurance question, and I'll let Hillary answer the alliance question, okay? We'll split it up.…”

“Let me answer the insurance question, and I'll let Hillary answer the alliance question, okay? We'll split it up. Because a lot of you have single-payer signs up, and I want to talk abut that. There are basically, obviously, two ways to get universal coverage. You can do it through a single-payer system, or you can do it through an employer-employee shared cost system for private insurance. Here is why I think our plan is better and why I wouldn't eliminate all the insurance companies. First of all, I feel compelled to tell you, sir, that there are some insurance companies, believe it or not, who have not contributed to that television ad campaign against our plan, because they do favor universal control--I mean, universal coverage for all Americans. Now, here's why I think it's--our plan is better. First of all, I think that it's clear that some of the insurance companies, particularly bigger ones, do a good job of trying to manage the health care system and manage costs. And if you have enough people in a big insurance pool, they can get their administrative costs down almost as low as you have in the Medicare program, if the pools are big enough. That's the second question you asked. And they really have acquired quite a lot of expertise. Secondly, as a practical matter, there are a lot of awfully good people who are working in this industry. And I don't think we should throw them all out of work. The problem is that in our system you've got 1,500 separate companies writing thousands of different policies, so you have to hire all these people to figure out who's not covered. If we had a rational private insurance system, the insurance companies can make a valuable contribution without bankrupting the system. I also believe, as a practical matter, based on--we have Members of Congress here who may have a different opinion, but my reading of the Congress is that we have a better chance to pass guaranteed private insurance than the single-payer system, because I think it's simpler, easier, and less disruptive. But I also think, on the merits, it's the right thing to do. Now, let me let Hillary answer the question about the alliances. Mrs. Clinton. Well, I think that if you have the States making the decisions, some States will only have one; some will only have two; some of the larger ones may need more than two. But it's not going to be thousands. It will only be probably 100 or 120 at the most, the way we look at the population. So I don't think that will be a problem. And the other thing about single payer is in the President's plan, each State has the right to be a single-payer State if they so choose. And so that is something we want local people to make a decision about.”