William M. Thomas: “And I would ask the gentleman: Today, rather than the Federal Government, States and the private sector, driven by the…”

“And I would ask the gentleman: Today, rather than the Federal Government, States and the private sector, driven by the increased costs of health care, are the engines of change and health care reform. In our State, as you know, California has changed its malpractice law, changed the way insurance can be sold, created voluntary purchasing cooperatives to let the little guy voluntarily achieve the same buying power as large corporations. Our Republican plans build on these reforms. We keep them, and we expand them. The Clinton plan, the plan that you are defending, would outlaw these kinds of changes taking place in the States and force them into a structure dictated by the non-elected national health board that would have the power, in addition to controlling that, of setting and enforcing a national budget for the entire U.S. health system.”