Top Down Reform Recipe for Trouble

The work of the President’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform is quickly moving to the front burner and controversy is growing — both on the substance of the plan and on the process by which it is being assembled. Process objections are many. But the main issue is accountability — beginning with President…

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Health Reform: Who gets what?

Clinton’s healthcare reform plan — some form of “managed competition” — now looks like it will be released the first week in May. That’s when the real politics begin. The debate will focus on two issues: (1) what basic or “uniform” benefits will be covered and (2) how much will it cost to provide this…

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Health Care: Less for more

Under the current employment-based health insurance system, 65% of Americans under 65 obtain health insurance through their jobs. Another 18% are enrolled in other plans — including Medicaid (for poor people) and individual private insurance. Medicare covers those over 65. What remains is the health care crisis — which includes 37 million uninsured people and…

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Healthcare Problem Moves to Front Burner

Healthcare is now on the front burner. How this issue is managed could well determine the fate of the President’s economic plan and perhaps his presidency. Putting Hillary Rodham Clinton in charge of the healthcare working group, the president promised a proposal to Congress within the first 100 days. The problems to overcome are many,…

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Clinton selling us an economic clunker

As Congress and the public look under the hood of the Clinton economic plan, they’re finding a clunker. Despite initial public optimism about the plan, the University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment showed increased public anxiety about the economy’s long-range prospects following the President’s speech. The Clinton Plan is a familiar tax and spend…

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