Bill Clinton: “I think probably almost everybody understood that question, but let me try to put it in a larger context. Alzheimer's is…”

“I think probably almost everybody understood that question, but let me try to put it in a larger context. Alzheimer's is growing very rapidly in our country as our population ages. But a lot of other infirmities are growing as well. Today, Medicare, the Government's program for elderly people, normally doesn't cover any kind of in-home care unless it's part of a rehabilitation program, she said. There are limited coverages for nursing home care under Medicare. Most of our older people who get any help from the Government in nursing homes have to spend themselves into poverty so they can get into the Medicaid program. If you look at the fact that people over 65, and within that group, people over 80, are the fastest growing group of our population in percentage terms. We want to encourage people to stay at home. We want to encourage people who want to, to become as independent as they can. But what that means is, if children are willing to take care of their parents and save society a whole lot of money that they could cost the rest of us just by spending their parents into poverty and putting them in a nursing home, we should give them a little bit of help in terms of respite care and help when they're providing help in their homes or in the community. So under our plan, we would, just like mental health care, which--we would phase in over the next few years a long-term care benefit so that for children who are taking care of their parents in the home, to use your example, who have Alzheimer's or who have had a stroke, for example--I met a couple taking care of the lady's mother for 9 years after she had a stroke, the other day--they would be able to get some relief, someone to come in and watch the parent, take care of the parent on a regular basis while they took some time off, got to go do errands or do whatever needed to be done, so that we would encourage these families staying together. It would save our country a lot of money over the long run. And I think it recognizes what's happening to our population. Thank you. Mr. Anschutz. Thank you, Omaha, for the question, and we'll get back to you in a few minutes. Now back to our own studio audience, Mr. President, and Ann has another question. Ms. Peterson. Mr. President, I'd like you to meet a woman who is a cancer survivor, and she is also surviving changes in the health insurance plan. Would you explain? Choice of Physician”