home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
TIME - Man of the Year
/
CompactPublishing-TimeMagazine-TimeManOfTheYear-Win31MSDOS.iso
/
moy
/
121492
/
1214993.000
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1993-04-08
|
1KB
|
32 lines
THE WEEK, Page 17NATIONIf You Can't Lick 'Em ...
Now even the insurance industry is pushing a national health-care
plan
It was a classic application of the advice "If you can't lick
'em, join 'em." Recognizing that with Bill Clinton's victory,
the momentum toward national health-care reform is becoming
unstoppable -- and that insurance companies are widely regarded
as an iniquitous special interest fighting on the wrong side --
the Health Insurance Association of America reversed its
long-standing opposition and brought forth its own plan.
Features: through a combination of (unspecified) tax incentives
and penalties, the government would require that a standard
package of benefits be made available to everybody, including
the 35 million Americans who have no coverage now. The feds
would help define that package and eventually force
standardization of amounts paid by private insurers, Medicare
and Medicaid; to help pay the cost, workers would be taxed on
above-standard benefits provided by employers. George Stepha
nopolous, Clinton's communications director, hailed the
reversal as a "real breakthrough."