The White House
Health Care Reform Today
September 22, 1993
- Tonight the President will bring health care to
the front of the public debate. He will talk about the
goals of health care: Security, Savings, Simplicity,
Quality, Choice and Responsibility. Here's how to talk
about the President's speech tonight:
- Security of guaranteed, comprehensive benefits.
Health care costs that are under control.
Improved quality of care.
Increased choices for consumers.
Less paperwork and a simpler system.
Responsibility from everyone.
- Here's how to talk about the problem:
- Over the next two years, one out of four of us
will be without health coverage at some point. Change
jobs, lose your job, or move -- and your insurance
company is currently allowed to drop you.
- Today's system is rigged against families and
small businesses. Insurance companies pick and choose
whom they cover. Then they drop you when you get sick.
If you have a pre-existing condition, you usually can't
get any insurance at all.
- Insurance companies charge small businesses as
much as 35% more than the big guys.
- Only 3 of every 10 employers with fewer than 500
employees offer any choice of health plan. Millions of
Americans have almost no choice today.
- Twenty-five cents out of every dollar on a
hospital bill goes to bureaucracy and paperwork -- not
patient care.
- Fraud and abuse are exploding, costing us at least
$80 billion a year. That's a dime of every dollar we
spend on health care.
- Our nation's health costs have nearly quadrupled
since 1980.
- Without reform, by the year 2000, one of every
five dollars we spend will go to health care.
- Thursday afternoon, more than 1,000 people are
expected on the White House south lawn to show support
for the President's plan. We don't have room to put in
the whole list...but there'll be a few surprises! Stay
tuned and join us tonight!