Let me say Hillary Clinton was rolling out her husband's health plan in the early '90's, not her own. The concept was largely in place. She was tasked with the details and the roll out. I will also say, the plan wasn't bad, but I do think she (and the Clinton administration) erred in not understanding the politics of significant policy reform. They were too green. She didn't allow for much ownership of the plan in Congress. I was struck by her answer to this question, which really speaks to her political acumen.
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TIMOTHY JOHNSON, M.D.: Senators, I’ve watched both the Republican and Democratic candidate debates. For some reason the 1993 keeps coming up. [Laughter] And as you look back on that experience, what would you say were the two biggest mistakes you made, and how are you trying to correct them in your present proposal? Feel free to talk about more than two if you want.. |
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HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Oh, sure. How long do we have, Tim? I think there were a number of problems that we both created for ourselves and that we didn’t foresee. Certainly the fact that the White House took on the responsibility of writing the legislation turned out to be a mistake. At the time it seemed like something worth doing, but I don’t think that it was a smart way of investing the Congress, particularly the Committees of Jurisdiction in this rather daunting task we were taking on together. So that’s why I believe presidential leadership on this issue should set a goal and set a framework, but not get into the details. I think that is a mistake, I learned that all those years ago. And I certainly see it now, having served in the Senate. The Congress had a lot of good ideas. They want to be at the table. They want to understand what’s going to happen to their particular constituents, or their region of the country, or whatever the particular issue might be. |
A second mistake of the Clinton administration was their failure to anticipate the reach the insurers and pharmaceutical companies would have in terms of the public perception of regulating the insurance markets. These interests made the case that in order to insure everybody the average American would have to give up their choice in doctor, care facility, and treatment options. In the second part of her answer, Clinton frames her new case for UHC to counter those complaints.
| Secondly, I think that the plan was too complicated. It was unfortunately quite a source of concern for a lot of Americans because they couldn’t understand how it would work, and it therefore couldn’t withstand the barrage of attacks that came at it. And I take responsibility for that, because it wasn’t either designed or presented in as effective a way as it should have been.
We certainly learned a lot about how important choice is to Americans. Now if you talk about what would be the most efficient system, what would save the most money, that may not be what Americans want. And what I’m trying to present with the American Health Choices Plan is a health choices menu. What you may want for your family may not be what I want for my family. I’ve talked to countless CEOs in the last 15 years. Some of them want out of the health care business. They feel a responsibility, ninety-nine percent of large employers do provide some form of health care. They want out. Others want control. They want to make the decisions. And you ask them, well, you make widgets why do you want to make health care decisions? Because they do. So what we want is choices for the payers as well as the customers. And I think that there was a feeling, although I don’t believe it was rooted in reality, there was a strong feeling that somehow what we were proposing before would limit those choices, and that is absolutely not the case with what I’m proposing today. |
A wise political strategy is the linchpin for enacting meaningful health reform. Hillary Clinton displays a shrewd laser-like focus on maintaining political cohesion by not allowing wedge issues divide the political consensus being developed around universal health care. In this example from the forum, we can see Clinton will not get side lined. Clinton states that as a "general rule" immigrants not here legally will not be eligible for the American Health Choices Plan. Dr. Tim Johnson pushes back. Here is the exchange:
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TIMOTHY JOHNSON: But don't we all lose morally and health wise if we don't take care of these people effectively? |
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SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Well I think we do take care of emergencies - |
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TIMOTHY JOHNSON: Emergency rooms? |
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SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: We do take care of emergencies, we do take care of a health safety net that is often there for people without the means to pay. |
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TIMOTHY JOHNSON: But prevention, early intervention?. |
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SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: Well Tim, these are hard choices. Right now, we have to focus on trying to expand our healthcare system to cover Americans who are here as citizens or legally in our country. And again, I think we have to - I believe in comprehensive immigration reform. So, I believe we have to have a solution to the 12 million undocumented people. And that would be for me, to include a path to earned legalization over time. And that would obviously trigger a different status. But I don't think you can deal with the immigration problem we face through our healthcare system. |
No doubt Hillary Clinton's stance will anger some of you at first read, but as a pragmatist, it gives me great confidence in her ability to achieve universal health care. These divisions are exactly what the bad actors in this debate will look for to stave off reform. Hillary Clinton knows how to walk the line and not allow wedge issues to overtake the central issue.
I think Hillary Clinton's political seasoning is a huge asset in her ability to sign into law meaningful universal health care legislation.
To view the video of the forum:
http://kaisernetwork.org/...
To read the transcript:
http://kaisernetwork.org/...
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