George H.W. Bush: “It says we are on the right track. The question, if you couldn't hear it, relates to health insurance. We've got a good…”

“It says we are on the right track. The question, if you couldn't hear it, relates to health insurance. We've got a good health insurance proposal. We are putting the finishing touches to it. And if I had reason to believe it would sail through this contentious Congress, I'd like to see it done. The problem we've got is, you have two other plans out there. One is, in my view, for pure nationalized health care, which I will strongly oppose, and the other is this so-called ``pay or play'' that would break what remains in the bank. And so we've got to work this through the system. But in the meantime, we have a proposal that I think is a very good one. It will retain the quality of U.S. health care, but it will not nationalize or socialize the medical system in this country. And we have proposals before the Congress in my budget right now that would contain the growth of some of the expenses of Medicare and Medicaid. So we'll see how that goes as it's considered by the Congress. But if you're asking me, do I believe a health care program, given the political nature of this year, can get through this year, I'd have to agree with many of the Democratic leaders that it's unlikely.”