Unlike the Clinton plan and the versions of that plan sponsored by the House Democratic leadership, the House compromise bill promised to solve problems by empowering individuals and leaving markets free to solve problems. Unfortunately, it fails to deliver on that promise.
The Senate is now in open debate on the health care reform bill proposed by Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME). A composite, the proposal is based on bills written by the Senate's Finance and Education and Labor committees and on President Clinton's original proposal.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) has endorsed the two latest versions of the Clinton health care plan: bills by Senator George Mitchell (D-ME) and Representative Richard Gephardt (D-MO). In doing so, AARP has betrayed its members.
One reason why there is so much uncertainty about the real cost of health reform proposals before Congress is that in most bills the costs are hidden.
Senator Kennedy and others argue that Hawaii's more centralized control of the health care system has led to a better distribution of physicians and more effective utilization of resources, hospital beds and technology. However, there is evidence to dispute this.
The high taxes the Mitchell bill would impose – both directly and indirectly (through cost shifting) – would lower investment, worker productivity and employee wages.
House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) released the health care reform bill of the House Democratic leadership on July 29. It is a composite based on President Clinton's original proposal and on the work of the House Ways and Means and House Education and Labor committees. While Gephardt has sought to emphasize the differences between his bill and President Clinton's plan, what is remarkable is how little has changed.
The Clinton plan and its Gephardt and Mitchell reincarnations attempt to solve a minor problem (eliminating uncompensated care for the uninsured) by making a major problem (uncompensated care under government programs) even worse.
Higher cigarette taxes do help fund health care reform, but they will take most of the money from the families that can least afford it.
President Clinton has blamed the defeat of the crime bill on obstructionist Republicans and the National Rifle Association, and the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives is threatening to force another vote. If they do so, the bill deserves to be defeated a second time.
The Dole proposal avoids most of the bad features of the Clinton health care plan and its various derivatives. A true market-based alternative, it includes many of the reform ideas developed by the National Center for Policy Analysis. However, the proposal's unnecessary, counterproductive insurance regulations need to be replaced, and details of its positive reforms can be significantly improved. This backgrounder discusses what is right in the Dole plan, why it is superior to Clinton-style plans and how it can be improved.
It's in our self-interest, says Hillary Rodham Clinton, to force uninsured "freeloaders" and their employers to buy health insurance whether they want to or not. Is that argument correct?
Is death sentencing really racially discriminatory? Those who claim there is a pattern of discrimination are ignoring a host of studies that show otherwise.
Does it make sense to give the government control over everyone's health insurance in order to increase the insured population by a couple of percentage points?