Hillary's Health Care Plan

In 1994, Hillary Rodham Clinton set out to change the country's health-care system and convened a panel to develop a plan secretly. This was a endeavor paid for by taxpayers, but held behind closed doors-- in violation of federal law.

Important aspects of the plan:

The plan aimed to cut the number of doctors (called "cost centers") by one quarter in order to cut demand by limiting supply.
The plan aimed to cut costs by cutting the number of specialists in half.
The plan prescribed the following fines:

* $5,000 for refusing to join the government-mandated health plan.

* $5,000 for failing to pay premiums on time.

* 15 years to doctors who received "anything of value" in exchange for helping patients short-circuit the bureaucracy.

* $10,000 a day for faulty physician paperwork.

* $50,000 for unauthorized patient treatment.

* $100,000 a day for drug companies that messed up federal filings.

Would have mandated the Federal Government to build a database containing every American's medical records and require all individuals to carry a card containing a chip storing our complete medical history. This information would be available to government officials and researchers without your approval or knowledge.
Would have set out to control the number and type of doctors permitted to practice in an geographical area.
A Congressional Budget Office report (8-10-94) said the bill would cost more than $1 trillion in the first eight years.
An association of U.S. Hospitals study estimated the plan would have added 59 new government offices staffed by 100,000 new bureaucrats.

Hillary quotes about the plan:

When a woman complained that she didn't want to get shoved into a plan not of her choosing, the first lady lectured, "It's time to put the common good, the national interest, ahead of individuals."

When told the plan could bankrupt small businesses, Mrs. Clinton sighed, "I can't be responsible for every undercapitalized small business in America."

Other quotes about the plan:

"I have never read an official document that seemed so suffused with coercion and political naivete ... with its drastic prescriptions for controlling the conduct of state governments, employers, drug manufacturers, doctors, hospitals and you and me."

-- Martha Derthick of the University of Virginia

Senator Moynihan said, "The American people got it clear enough…to cut the number of doctors in the country by a quarter…If you have fewer doctors you have fewer doctor bills. But you don't associate it with improving medicine."

Moynihan also noted, Hillary's bill aimed to cut costs by cutting "the number of specialists in half." Moynihan vehemently objected, arguing that specialists are a function of science--new discoveries create new specialties. Moynihan, defending New York's teaching hospitals which produce specialists, said, "We are not swamped with specialists; we abound in them. And that is surely the glory of this great moment of medical discovery."

The illegality of the panel:

The secrecy of the task force was challenged in a lawsuit by the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons. The judge, imposing $286,000 in sanctions against the administration for the AAPS's legal fees, denounced what he called the "cover-up" of efforts to keep the health care planning secret. Noting that "reprehensible" misstatements had been made to him, he denounced decisions "made at the highest levels of government," which must be held accountable "when its officials run amok." He said the executive branch "was dishonest with this court" and declared that "some government officials never learn that the cover-up can be worse than the underlying conduct."

Would Mrs. Clinton Still Pursue This Plan?:

"You may remember that we tried to do that [pass her health care bill] in 1993 and 1994. We weren't totally successful, but I did not give up."

-- Hillary Clinton speech, February 22, 2000.

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