[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book II)]
[September 21, 1993]
[Pages 1546-1548]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Interview With Tabitha Soren of MTV
September 21, 1993

National Service Program

    Q. Obviously, this is a huge success, getting national service 
passed so quickly. One of the goals of national service is to have kids 
have a multicultural experience. But yet, in the pilot program, Summer 
of Service, within a couple of days, the black kids were in black 
caucuses, there were Hispanic caucuses and gang groups. How are you 
going to make sure during national service, when it gets going, that 
they serve side by side?
    The President. Well, those are the kinds of projects we'll favor. 
But I think if you look all across the world today, there's always going 
to be some ethnic cohesion. People are going to pull together, talk 
together, feel a greater initial comfort level. That's just true 
worldwide.
    But what we also saw in the Summer of Service is that people really 
were working together across racial and ethnic groups to an extent 
greater than they had before. I think what we have to do is let people 
be themselves but favor those programs that have multiracial makeup, and 
we will do that.

Health Care Reform

    Q. Okay. As far as health care is concerned, isn't it true that 
because your health care plan is community based that many young people, 
because they're young and healthy and they get discounts on insurance 
now, may end up paying more with your plan?
    The President. Yes, in the first year, those who have insurance may 
pay more, depending on whether they work for small or big businesses. 
Very young people who are basically in plans that have big businesses 
insuring them may pay some more in the first year. Even they, however, 
within 5 years should be paying less, because we slow the rate of growth 
in these premiums.
    Young people who work for small businesses probably won't pay more 
because they're paying too much already, all small businesses. And 
they'll be in great big groups. But I would also point out that an awful 
lot of young people who don't have health insurance--and some young 
people do have access; some young people do get sick; some young people 
even have serious illnesses--so it will help them. And I would say, 
also, to all these young people, if we change it in this way so that 
we're all rated as a community, what it means is, is that some family 
gets a sick child, it means that they won't lose their health insurance 
if they change jobs, or they won't be locked into the job they're in. 
And all of the young people--I can certify because I was one once--will 
someday be middle-aged, will someday be older, and they will then 
benefit from that.
    So the fair thing for America to do is to do what Hawaii has already 
done, what a couple of other States have already done, and what other 
nations do, which is to have the nation in big pools of people so that 
we can keep overall costs down.

Abortion

    Q. In terms of the health care plan, last time I spoke with you, you 
said you wanted abortion to be covered under the health care plan. And 
now I understand the language says ``medically necessary, pregnancy-
related services'' are covered.
    The President. That's what it says----
    Q. Does that mean that anyone who wants an abortion can get one and 
have it covered under the plan?
    The President. It means that it will be just like it is today in 
most private plans. Most private plans absolutely cover it. But no 
insurance

[[Page 1547]]

plan specifically mentioned any surgical procedure. The surest way to 
eliminate any kind of abortion coverage from this act would be to 
mention it specifically, because no other surgical procedure, none, are 
mentioned specifically. And all private insurance plans which cover 
abortion may cover pregnancy-related services, and the doctor and the 
woman make the decision. So what we propose to do is to put low-income 
people who are covered by the Government today into these big pools with 
people who are privately insured, give everybody a private plan.
    Q. I'm sorry, I don't--is it more than the Hyde amendment in terms 
of----
    The President. Oh, yes, absolutely.
    Q. How so? I don't----
    The President. Because the Hyde amendment prohibits any public 
funding for abortions, except when the life of the mother is at risk.
    Q. But I thought the Hyde amendment was self-certifying now, and you 
could say, I have a heart condition, therefore----
    The President. Well, I don't know about that, but you have to prove 
that your life is at risk.
    Q. Or rape and incest.
    The President. Not in the Hyde amendment.
    Q. No? Okay.
    The President. No. We tried to expand it and broaden it, but this 
would simply put people who get Government funds into big private 
insurance pools, and they would then be treated like other people in 
private insurance pools. It's just what we did for the public employees 
this year; we got rid of the Hyde amendment for public employees this 
year.
    Q. You couldn't have just put ``abortion'' instead of ``pregnancy-
related''?
    The President. Absolutely not. And it would have been wrong to do 
that. Then people would say, ``Well, why don't you put brain surgery in 
there; why don't you put appendectomies in there; why don't you put 
other surgeries in there?'' And that would have sparked a whole 
reaction. They would say, ``Why are we giving special preference to one 
kind of procedure over all others?'' This will guarantee that most plans 
will cover abortions.
    Now, there will be religious exemptions, which there are today. 
Catholic churches or other religious groups that have health plans don't 
have to cover it; doctors who have religious--don't have to do it. But 
if a doctor and a woman decide that that is an appropriate pregnancy-
related service under this plan, then it can be provided.

Health Care Cost Estimates

    Q. In terms of paying for universal health care, why are you trying 
to sugar-coat it? Why not just give us the bitter medicine of how much 
it's going to cost us in taxes?
    The President. I'm not trying to sugar-coat it. I have worked harder 
to get better cost estimates on this than anybody ever has. Moynihan--in 
all respect to Senator Moynihan, he's a very brilliant man, but he and 
his committee staff have not done anything like the work that I've done 
on this. Now, they may not want to pass Medicare cuts; they should say 
that. It doesn't mean the numbers aren't right. We have had----
    Q. ----some people say----
    The President. No. We have had four different Government Agencies, 
for the first time, working together to verify these numbers. We have 
had outside actuaries from people who work for private business working 
to verify these numbers. It may be difficult to pass because the 
Congress will not want to make the administrative changes necessary to 
lower the rate of increase. But I want to tell--first of all, there are 
no Medicaid cuts in this. The inflation rate in this country today is 
about 3 percent. Medicaid's going up this year at 16 percent. We're 
talking about, over an 8-year period, bringing down the rate of 
inflation in health care costs to the rate of inflation in the economy 
plus the number of people who are increased into the program. That's all 
we're talking about doing.
    For the next 5 years, health care costs will still go up more than 
prices as a whole in this economy. I don't think that is fantasyland, if 
you have a systematic change. Other countries do it. The Mayo Clinic, 
which is normally thought of as having some of the finest care in the 
world, is now charging less for many basic services than an awful lot of 
ordinary health care plans all across America today because they manage 
their business better.
    So it is not fantasy to say that the numbers are right and they can 
be achieved. Will it be politically difficult to do? You bet. Why? 
Because there are a lot of people who make a lot of money out of the 
inefficiencies of the system today. And because there are a lot of 
people who honestly don't believe you can ever

[[Page 1548]]

do more with less. But I do, and I think there's a lot of evidence of 
that.
    So, Senator Moynihan is right, it's going to be tough to pass. I 
don't think that the numbers are wrong. And let me also say something 
nobody else has noticed. There are 85 Members of the House of 
Representatives who want the Government to basically eliminate the 
private health insurance companies, get out of it altogether, have a 
huge tax increase to pay for health care but eliminate the premiums. 
They propose bigger cuts in Medicare and Medicaid than I do. So I just 
think that the numbers are entirely defensible, and I think we'll be 
able to persuade the Congress.

Entertainment at Signing Ceremony

    Q. I forgot to ask you about--why Soul Asylum?
    The President. They were supportive in the campaign, and they made 
that wonderful song about runaway children, which had a big impact on 
young people throughout the country. We just thought they'd be a good 
group to be here.
    Q. Does Chelsea like them?
    The President. Yes. I do, too. I heard them play last night, you 
know. So I sort of got caught up on my music last night, listening to 
them practice.
    Q. Have people that looked like that ever walked into your Oval 
Office before?
    The President. Oh, sure. [Laughter] This is everybody's Oval Office. 
I'm just a tenant here.
    Q. I see.
    The President. Thanks.
    Q. Most people here tend to bathe, however. [Laughter] Thanks.
    The President. Thanks. Bye.

Note: The interview began at 12:02 p.m. in the Colonnade at the White 
House. The band Soul Asylum played at the beginning of the signing 
ceremony for the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993. A 
tape was not available for verification of the content of this 
interview.