THE WHITE HOUSE AT WORK
Thursday, June 22,
2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON:
CHALLENGING CONGRESS TO ACT NOW ON HEALTH
CARE PRIORITIES
June 22, 2000
"Those of us in public life should be doing everything we can to
work together, whether we're working to provide affordable prescription drug
coverage, or to demand accountability for the health care costs of
tobacco."
President Bill Clinton
Thursday, June 22, 2000
Today, President Clinton challenged Congress to place the nation's
health care interests ahead of special interests by providing an affordable
Medicare prescription drug benefit and holding tobacco companies accountable
for the cost of smoking-related illnesses. The President expressed his
disappointment with the House Ways and Means Committee vote last night for a
drug benefit that would be neither affordable nor meaningful for the nation's
Medicare beneficiaries. He urged the full House to reject this vote and pass a
Medicare prescription drug benefit that is affordable, available, and optional
for all Medicare beneficiaries. The President also commended the House for
adopting the Waxman amendment allowing the Department of Veterans Affairs to
help finance the Department of Justice tobacco litigation. He urged the House
to take the next step and adopt an amendment permitting the Justice Department
to accept this funding so they can proceed with the litigation, which could
provide billions of dollars to improve the medical care of not only veterans,
but all Americans.
HOUSE REPUBLICANS PASS FLAWED PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFIT.Last
night, on a straight party-line vote, the House Ways and Means Committee passed
a private-insurance drug benefit that:
- Does not ensure that all Medicare beneficiaries will have access
to an affordable prescription drug benefit;
- Provides a private insurance benefit - not a Medicare benefit -
meaning beneficiaries would pay expensive premiums to private Medigap plans
rather than to Medicare for an affordable option;
- Fails to assure the availability or stability of drug coverage
options;
- Limits choice of drugs and pharmacies;
- Serves the pharmaceutical industry's interests much more than
those of senior citizens and people with disabilities;
- The insurance industry itself has consistently stated won't work.
The President urged the House leadership to change their proposal to
ensure that it is voluntary, accessible to all beneficiaries, designed to
provide meaningful protection and bargaining power for seniors, affordable for
all beneficiaries and the program, and administered using competitive
purchasing techniques.
REPUBLICANS REJECT NEEDED HEALTH CARE PROVIDER RESTORATIONS.
Last night, the Republicans rejected the President's proposed investment of $21
billion over five years for a Medicare and Medicaid Health Care Provider
Payment Restoration initiative designed to provide adequate reimbursement to
hospitals, teaching facilities, nursing homes, and other providers to ensure
that patients have continued access to high-quality care.
URGING CONGRESS TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH, NOT BIG TOBACCO.
Each year, more than 400,000 Americans are killed by tobacco-related diseases.
The cost to the federal government is staggering, and includes more than $20
billion in federal payments under Medicare and other programs. Each year, the
Department of Veterans Affairs alone spends more than $1 billion on
smoking-related illnesses. This week, the House passed an amendment allowing
the Department of Veterans Affairs to devote funds to help finance the Justice
Department litigation against tobacco companies. This litigation would recover
billions of dollars in tobacco-related health care costs and make the tobacco
industry answer to the taxpayers in court for their actions. Today, the
President urged Congress to take the next step by adopting an amendment which
would permit the Justice Department to accept these funds, and allow the legal
responsibility of the tobacco companies to be decided by the judicial process,
not the political process.
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