[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 2 (Wednesday, January 26, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: January 26, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. PACKWOOD. Madam President, I had a sense of deja vu last night. 
The President, at one point in his speech, related to health care and 
said:

       And, I might say, employer-based private insurance for 
     every American was proposed 20 years ago by President Richard 
     Nixon to the United States Congress. It was a good idea then, 
     and it is a better idea today.

  I say deja vu, because I was the Senator that introduced that bill 
for President Nixon and carried that bill 20 years ago. It was defeated 
by an interesting combination of both the right and the left. The right 
not liking the employer mandate; the left wanting national health 
insurance. Together, they succeeded in killing the bill.
  But I agree with the President. It was a good idea by President 
Nixon, and it is a good idea today.
  I would say to the President, he will find Republicans who will work 
with him if--if--there is not imposed an immense Government bureaucracy 
and if there is no Government monopoly through which you must purchase 
your insurance.
  But can we agree with him that there should be universal coverage, 
that everyone should be covered? You bet we can. Can that be phased in 
overnight? Maybe not. Maybe we have to do it over 1 year, 2 years, 3 
years, 5 years. But we will agree with him on universal coverage. We 
will.
  Will we agree that there should be no exclusion for a preexisting 
illness? We will.
  Will we agree that you ought to be able to keep your coverage when 
you change jobs? You bet.
  Do we think that small business ought to be able to buy insurance at 
the same price as large business? Again, we agree with that, and it can 
be relatively easily accomplished.
  Do we think you ought to be able to choose your own doctor? 
Absolutely.
  Here, however, comes the rub. I think we can agree with the President 
on 80 percent of what he wants. It is the 20 percent that may be the 
sticking point, and it could be a fatal sticking point.
  I do not think the Republicans--I know I cannot--support Government 
price controls for medicine. I know the President, at the moment, says 
that is not part of his package. But a package as introduced may not be 
the package as it attempts to come out of the Congress. And if price 
controls are in this, we will not support it.
  If there are health alliances in this bill through which you are 
compelled to buy your health insurance instead of being able to 
purchase it through private insurance companies, I think we will not 
support it.
  And if there is a prohibition against States experimenting, varying 
the national plan a bit so that my State of Oregon could not experiment 
with its Medicaid waiver plan, so other States could not experiment 
with their idea of what is the best way to have a health insurance plan 
for their States, then I think we would not support it.
  But in this whole area, there is room for conciliation and 
compromise. This does not have to be the budget battle of last year. 
This, instead, can be NAFTA, from where you will have Republicans and 
Democrats for the bill and Republicans and Democrats against the bill.
  I will conclude with what I said at the start. I introduced a bill 
very similar to this bill for President Nixon 20 years ago and 
supported it then. It was an employer-based bill. It was a mandate on 
employers.
  I would prefer the German system, where we mandate individuals to 
have to purchase their own insurance. The employer pays half the bill 
and the premium is withheld from your wages. It is a flat percentage, 
but it is based on your wages. Assume the percentage is 10 percent. If 
you make $10,000, you pay $1,000. If you make $20,000, you pay $2,000. 
The employer matches. It is more like automobile insurance in this 
country, where we compel individuals to have their own insurance. I 
would prefer that.
  But there is room for compromise, as long as we do not attempt to 
compel price controls and some kind of mandatory Government monopoly 
that would be the only type of insurance.
  I compliment the President. I compliment his reference to President 
Nixon, with whom many of us are having lunch today.
  I thank the Chair and yield back the remainder of my time.
  Mr. DOMENICI addressed the Chair.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from New Mexico.

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