Bill Clinton: “Well, I think we'll have to phase some parts of it in over a period of years, but I want to come forward with a program…”

“Well, I think we'll have to phase some parts of it in over a period of years, but I want to come forward with a program as soon as we get the budget out of the way. I'd like for the Government to take care of insuring the unemployed, uninsured, and to make sure that people can change jobs even if someone in their family has been sick--you know, today you've got millions of people locked into the jobs they're in because they've got a sick husband, wife, child, or something, and they can't change--and mandating reform of the insurance markets so that small businesses don't get busted just to buy health insurance--and self-employed people. But I think that the providers system we have in America is very good now. And I think we ought to leave the doctors, the hospitals, all the private providers and private choice in providers intact, but we'll have to do some more in rural areas especially, and in inner cities to provide for some assistance just to get doctors and nurses and clinics out there in places that are terribly isolated. But the fundamental system is sound. It's the insurance and the coverage that is messed up. The delivery system--if you've health care in America, you're getting pretty good health care. Thank you. I've got to go, sorry. Representative Dan Rostenkowski”