[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
            IS PRESIDENT CLINTON'S PLAN SOCIALIZED MEDICINE?

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, proponents of the President's health care 
plan have been bombarding the leery American public with a PR campaign 
entitled ``Tell that to the Joe Blow constituent stories,'' and it is 
always a scenario which is a good scenario about the need for health 
care reform. But the irony is nobody is debating the need for health 
care reform. The debate is, Is the crisis so big that we need to 
socialize medicine or is it such that the free-market-targeted reforms 
will do the trick?
  The Michel plan targets reforms and allows the free market to be 
free, to have competition, and the Clinton plan basically socializes 
medicine. I truly believe that there are a lot of people who have 
heartbreak stories out there that we need to help, and the Michel plan 
is aimed at helping them.
  We are not debating the need for reform. We are debating socialized 
medicine.
  Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand a document which says what the 
National Health Care Board does. It is in the bill, all through the 
bill, section 1141, 1503, 1522, 1911, 1571. This outlines the powers of 
the National Health Care Board which basically socializes medicine in 
our country, gives them the power to develop and implement national 
health insurance, set standards for doctors, write, develop and approve 
policy language for insurance companies, control costs, set community 
rates from Maine to Florida, oversight on drug pricing, power to set 
health care budgets, power to set the budget for regional health care 
alliances, deciding who will get health care, where they will get it, 
and under what procedures and circumstances.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a profound list. It is available to the public. 
It is something people need to know about, because this is an absolute 
blueprint for socialized medicine as part of the Clinton plan.
  We need the Michel plan that targets the part that is broken, while 
the Clinton plan throws out the whole system and starts all over again 
and puts the Government in charge and not the consumers.

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