Bill Clinton

No, absolutely not. If you have a plan now that covers all your benefits, if anything your employer will have more incentive to continue to cover you, because their costs will go up less in the future than they would now. Keep in mind…

Yes, sir, you can, and that's why the Pharmaceutical Association of the United States--Association of Pharmacists has already endorsed our plan, and they were up until 2 a.m. last night sending out press releases around the country, saying…

Sure. Mr. Koppel. And then we will bring this program to a close. I suppose it's also appropriate at this point to note that, believe me, this is not going to be the last you hear on this subject. Either pro or con, the President's plan…

That's right. You'll pay over the next 5 years much less under my system, my proposal, much less than you'll pay if you stay with the system we've got. And you get better benefits and security. You will never lose your health care. Mr…

Much more. Mr. Koppel. Under your system, you're going to end up paying more. But you're saying under your system you're going to end up paying a smaller amount more than you would in the existing----

The system will cost more, but they will pay much less under my plan than if we do nothing. Keep in mind, of the 85 percent of the people with health insurance, two-thirds of them will pay the same or less for the same or better benefits…

But we don't do that. In other words, keep in mind, I am not proposing to bring our cost level down to the level of Canada, much less Germany. What I am proposing is to slow the rate of increase, which if we don't slow it, by the end of…

But that's because people can't imagine how much waste there is in this system. Today, we spend over 14 percent of our income as a nation on health care. Canada spends 10; Germany is under 9; Japan is under 9. The German system, which is…

He's been the most patient person here. We've got to hear from him. Mr. Koppel. We'll be back in a moment. [The network took a commercial break.] Mr. Koppel. There's another one of our poll results. Under Clinton's plan, will you pay more…

That will be a big political mine field. [The participant reiterated her opposition to the use of her tax money to fund abortions.]

That's right, they will be able to fund it. That's right. If it comes down on this issue, we keep all these Medicaid people from going into a revolutionary new system, then you're going to throw away a lot of the savings and deprive those…

The answer is, indirectly they will. Today, it's a direct question. You know, the Government writes a check for every Medicaid procedure. Under this system, people on Medicaid would be just like any other person. They'd join a health plan…

If it doesn't, they can go to another plan. If it does and they're offended by it, they can go to another plan. Mr. Koppel. Are tax monies going to be used to support those abortions? That was----

This gentleman is the head of the hospital who took care of the daughter of the independent contractor with the $186,000 worth of bills. He said, ``We took care of it before, and we'll take care of it again until we get this''--[applause]…

Tell the girls to come back later. Hey kids, I'll come back there. Later I'll be there. You wait here, and when we next take a break we'll shake hands, okay? Mr. Koppel. What are we--come on. Shake hands. Get it over with. Come on up. Now…

First, let me say that if you go back to that study, it also says that people are more literate now than they ever have been, but there are more challenges for them now than ever before. All of the research indicates that one of the things…

Yes. Perhaps the most important thing, long-term, in this package is that we pay for things like pregnancy visits, well-baby care visits. We pay for immunizations for all children. In other words, we try to pay for a lot of preventive and…

The truth is, if you look at how the Government spends its money, it's heavily weighted towards specialties now. What we propose to do is to change the formula by which the Federal Government funds medical schools now to favor more--not to…

We propose to do a couple of things in malpractice to--and let me just say, malpractice not only affects doctors with higher premiums but a lot of people believe it adds to the cost of the system, because doctors practice what is called…

Let me try to remember them all. First of all, on your debt--and medical school is very costly--we propose to do two things. Number one, we have already passed a sweeping reform of the student loan program, which will enable people to…

I'm really glad you said that, because we heard a sad story here before about doctors who wouldn't take Medicaid patients, which leaves the patients out in the cold, although Medicaid is a real pain. But for every case like that, there's a…

Well, let me just say this. In the long run everybody will be better off if we bring health care inflation down to the regular rates of inflation. Mr. Koppel. Who is going to get hurt in the short term?

They'll pay more. Mr. Koppel. They'll pay more, but they're going to be insured for the first time. Everybody's going to be better off----

Correct. He would pay about what he's paying now. Because he's a small business person, there would be a discount for his premiums. Mr. Koppel. Okay. Does that answer your question? We've got to take another break; we'll be back in a…

But let me tell you what--[applause]. I know you all have a lot of questions. Let me just make some general points about this. Our analysis shows--and let me say, we have consulted with health care finance experts in Fortune 500 companies…