***** Reformatted. Please Redistribute.
CLINTON/GORE ON
AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTH CARE
We can't afford four more years without a president
with a plan and the will to guarantee affordable,
quality health care for every American. The
American health care system costs too much and does
not work. It leaves 60 million Americans without
adequate health insurance and bankrupts our
families, our businesses, and our federal budget.
Instead of putting people first, Washington favors
the insurance companies the drug companies, and the
health care bureaucracies. They are strangling the
most advanced health care system in the world.
And working Americans are paying the price. Since
1980, the average cost of individual health
insurance rose from $1000 to $3000 a year. Today
health care costs are the number one cause of
labor disputes, bankruptcies, and growth in the
federal deficit. People can't change jobs because
insurance companies will deny them coverage because
of "pre-existing conditions." Small businesses are
caught between going broke and doing right by their
employees. Working men and women are forced to pay
more while their employers cover less.
Health care should be a right, not a privilege.
And it can be. We are going to preserve what's
best in our system: your family's right to choose
who provides care and coverage, American innovation
and technology, and the world's best private
doctors and hospitals. But we will take on the
bureaucracies and corporate interests to make
health care accessible to every American.
The United States is the only advanced country in
the world without a national health care plan. In
the first year of a Clinton/Gore Administration,
that will change. We will send a national health
care plan to Congress, and we will fight to pass
it. No American family should have to go from the
doctor's office to the poorhouse.
Cap national spending to control health care costs
* Create a health standards board made up of
consumers, providers, business, labor and
government. The health standards board will
establish an annual health budget for the
nation to limit both public and private
expenditures.
* Crack down on billing fraud and eliminate
incentives that invite abuse.
Take on the insurance industry
* Ban underwriting practices that waste billions
trying to discover which patients are bad
risks; prohibit companies from denying
coverage to individuals with pre-existing
conditions.
* Protect small businesses through "community
rating," which requires insurers to spread
risks evenly among all companies.
* Shut down the "paper hospital" and replace
expensive and complex financial forms and
accounting procedures with a simplified,
streamlined billing system with one claim
form. Under the current system, 1,500
companies waste millions of dollars processing
1,500 sets of forms.
* Work to provide everyone with "smart cards"
coded with personal medical information.
Stop drug price gouging
* Eliminate tax breaks for drug companies that
raise their prices faster than Americans
incomes rise to protect American consumers and
bring down prescription drug prices.
* Discourage drug companies from spending more
on marketing than on research and development
because saving lives must come before making
money.
Establish a core benefits package
* Through the health standards board, guarantee
a basic health benefits package that includes
ambulatory physician care, inpatient hospital
care, prescription drugs, and basic mental
health services. The package will also
include expanded preventive treatments such as
pre-natal care, mammograms, and routine health
screenings.
* Allow consumers to choose where they receive
care to ensure a better fit between provider
strengths and consumer needs.
* Expand Medicare for elderly and disabled
Americans to include more long-term care;
place special emphasis on home- and
community-based care, and make funding
flexible so that those who need care can
decide what serves them best.
Develop health networks
* Give consumers access to a variety of local
health networks made up of insurers,
hospitals, clinics and doctors to end the
costly duplication of services and encourage
the shared use of key technologies.
* Allocate to networks a fixed amount of money
for each consumer, the networks the necessary
incentive to control costs.
Guarantee universal coverage
* Guarantee every American a core benefits
package set by the health standards board
either through their employer or by buying
into a high-quality public program. No one
will be cut off, cancelled, denied or forced
to accept inferior care.
* Limit costs for small employers by allowing
them to group together and form larger groups
to purchase less costly health insurance, or
to buy into the public program if it is the
cheapest option.
* Phase in business responsibilities, covering
employees through the public program until the
transition is complete.
* Improve preventive and primary care through
community-based health solutions. A
successful health plan must provide all
Americans with adequate access to health
facilities. The Clinton/Gore plan will expand
school-based clinics and community health
centers in medically under-served areas.
Giving children a healthier future
* Bill Clinton provided outspoken support for
school-based health clinics. The state now
funds 21 such clinics reaching thousands of
Arkansas children who wouldn't otherwise have
access to health care. Clinic services range
from health screenings to immunizations to
education.
* Increased Early Periodic Screenings, Diagnosis
and Treatment (EPSDT) screenings by more than
2,000 percent.
* Helped reduce the Arkansas infant mortality
rate by 43 percent. Arkansas' infant
mortality rate dropped from 20 percent above
the national average in 1978 to virtual parity
in 1990.
* Introduced the Healthy Beginnings/Nurse
Midwife Program to provide low-income women in
East Arkansas with access to comprehensive
maternity care.
* Established the "Good Beginnings" program,
which took advantage of new federal
regulations to provide basic health services
to more low-income women and their children;
Arkansas was the first state to launch such a
program.
* Proposed and passed a "Health Care Access Law"
designed, among other things, to provide
universal health coverage for all Arkansas
children under age 16, regardless of family
income. The law emphasizes preventive and
primary care.
* Senator Gore was the principal sponsor of the
Infant Formula Act to improve nutrition and
safety standards.
Providing better care and more choice for the
elderly
* Bill Clinton established the ElderChoices
program to allow the state Department of Human
Services to give senior citizens alternatives
to nursing home care -- including personal and
home health care, adult day-care services, and
more -- with funds formerly available only for
nursing home care.
* Imposed strict regulations on nursing homes in
his first term, before strict federal
regulations were implemented, and has since
strengthened these regulations.
* Initiated a broad range of cost-effective
in-home health care and supportive services
for people recovering from serious or chronic
illnesses, or who require assistance with
daily living activities, to avoid
institutionalization.
* Increased funding for in-home services from
$2.4 million in fiscal year 1981 to a budgeted
$38 million for 1992-93.
* Senator Gore led the fight for the "Medigap"
law to protect seniors from buying worthless
insurance coverage.
* Sponsored a law establishing Alzheimer's
treatment centers.
* Senator Gore was a leader in the fight to make
generic drugs more available and reduce the
cost of prescription drugs.
Responding to the AIDS crisis
* As chairman of the National Governors'
Association, Governor Clinton formed the first
working group of governors to develop an AIDS
policy. Clinton was a moving force in the
creation of an AIDS action plan adopted by the
Governors' Association, which called for
education and prevention efforts at the local,
state and federal levels.
* Established the AIDS Advisory Committee for
Arkansas, which makes recommendations on HIV
policy and program services.
* Developed confidential AIDS testing in all 75
Arkansas counties.
* Al Gore supported funding for Ryan White AIDS
programs, including research and education.
* Voted to provide emergency relief to
metropolitan areas hardest hit by AIDS.
* Promoted development of a full range of
services including in-home assistance such as
chore services, personal care, home nursing
care, and home delivered meals, and
community-based services such as
transportation, respite care, and friendly
visiting.
Improving the health of all Americans
* Strengthened the Arkansas State Employees
Health Insurance Program. Between 1982 and
1991, Arkansas' contribution increased by 335
percent while the state employees' premium for
family coverage grew by only 89 percent.
Because the program is self-insured, it does
not pay premium taxes or produce a profit.
Currently, for every $1 collected, 97 cents
are paid in claims and only 3 cent in
administrative fees. The $200 yearly
deductible, 80/20 co-payment scheme and $5,000
Stop-Loss provision provide some of the best
coverage in the nation to current and retired
public employees.
* Proposed and passed a "bare bones" health
insurance coverage program, which will allow
employers who have not provided employee
health insurance for the previous 12 months to
offer a package without some services usually
thought to increase costs for employers and
employees.
* Developed key programs to improve rural
health: the Rural Physician Recruitment and
Retention Program encourages physicians to
locate and practice family medicine in small
Arkansas communities; Rural Medical Practice
Student Loans and Scholarships provide support
for medical students agreeing to practice in
rural communities.
* Enacted a 1989 law requiring the Director of
the Department of Health to establish and
administer quality standards for X-ray
facilities conducting mammography.
* Appointed Dr. Joycelyn Elders State Health
Department Director. She has received the
National Governors' Association Distinguished
Service Award, the National Endowment of the
Arts' Mary Futrell Award for Creative
Leadership in Women's Rights, and the American
Medical Association's Dr. Nathan Davis Award.
* In August 1992, Arkansas was one of twelve
states which received funding as part of the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State
Initiatives in Health Care Financing Reform
Programs. Arkansas was chosen for its
innovative approach to increase health
insurance coverage to residents and to contain
the escalating costs of health care.
* Senator Gore conducted hearings that led to
the passage of the National Organ Transplant
Act, which Gore also helped write. The Act
established a national network to match organ
donors and recipients.
* Led efforts to establish and expand the
National Bone Marrow Donor Registry, which now
lists more than 200,000 potential donors.
* Co-sponsored legislation to help strengthen
rural hospitals.
* Wrote and steered to passage the Cigarette
Labeling Act to require stronger warning
labels on the health effects of smoking.
Giving children a healthier future
* Bill Clinton provided outspoken support for
school-based health clinics. The state now
funds 21 such clinics reaching thousands of
Arkansas children who wouldn't otherwise have
access to health care. Clinic services range
from health screenings to immunizations to
education.
* Increased Early Periodic Screenings, Diagnosis
and Treatment (EPSDT) screenings by more than
2,000 percent.
* Helped reduce the Arkansas infant mortality
rate by 43 percent. Arkansas' infant
mortality rate dropped from 20 percent above
the national average in 1978 to virtual parity
in 1990.
* Introduced the Healthy Beginnings/Nurse
Midwife Program to provide low-income women in
East Arkansas with access to comprehensive
maternity care.
* Established the "Good Beginnings" program,
which took advantage of new federal
regulations to provide basic health services
to more low-income women and their children;
Arkansas was the first state to launch such a
program.
* Proposed and passed a "Health Care Access Law"
designed, among other things, to provide
universal health coverage for all Arkansas
children under age 16, regardless of family
income. The law emphasizes preventive and
primary care.
* Senator Gore was the principal sponsor of the
Infant Formula Act to improve nutrition and
safety standards.
Providing better care and more choice for the
elderly
* Bill Clinton established the ElderChoices
program to allow the state Department of Human
Services to give senior citizens alternatives
to nursing home care -- including personal and
home health care, adult day-care services, and
more -- with funds formerly available only for
nursing home care.
* Imposed strict regulations on nursing homes in
his first term, before strict federal
regulations were implemented, and has since
strengthened these regulations.
* Initiated a broad range of cost-effective
in-home health care and supportive services
for people recovering from serious or chronic
illnesses, or who require assistance with
daily living activities, to avoid
institutionalization.
* Increased funding for in-home services from
$2.4 million in fiscal year 1981 to a budgeted
$38 million for 1992-93.
* Senator Gore led the fight for the "Medigap"
law to protect seniors from buying worthless
insurance coverage.
* Sponsored a law establishing Alzheimer's
treatment centers.
* Senator Gore was a leader in the fight to make
generic drugs more available and reduce the
cost of prescription drugs.
Responding to the AIDS crisis
* As chairman of the National Governors'
Association, Governor Clinton formed the first
working group of governors to develop an AIDS
policy. Clinton was a moving force in the
creation of an AIDS action plan adopted by the
Governors' Association, which called for
education and prevention efforts at the local,
state and federal levels.
* Established the AIDS Advisory Committee for
Arkansas, which makes recommendations on HIV
policy and program services.
* Developed confidential AIDS testing in all 75
Arkansas counties.
* Al Gore supported funding for Ryan White AIDS
programs, including research and education.
* Voted to provide emergency relief to
metropolitan areas hardest hit by AIDS.
* Promoted development of a full range of
services including in-home assistance such as
chore services, personal care, home nursing
care, and home delivered meals, and
community-based services such as
transportation, respite care, and friendly
visiting.
Improving the health of all Americans
* Strengthened the Arkansas State Employees
Health Insurance Program. Between 1982 and
1991, Arkansas' contribution increased by 335
percent while the state employees' premium for
family coverage grew by only 89 percent.
Because the program is self-insured, it does
not pay premium taxes or produce a profit.
Currently, for every $1 collected, 97 cents
are paid in claims and only 3 cent in
administrative fees. The $200 yearly
deductible, 80/20 co-payment scheme and $5,000
Stop-Loss provision provide some of the best
coverage in the nation to current and retired
public employees.
* Proposed and passed a "bare bones" health
insurance coverage program, which will allow
employers who have not provided employee
health insurance for the previous 12 months to
offer a package without some services usually
thought to increase costs for employers and
employees.
* Developed key programs to improve rural
health: the Rural Physician Recruitment and
Retention Program encourages physicians to
locate and practice family medicine in small
Arkansas communities; Rural Medical Practice
Student Loans and Scholarships provide support
for medical students agreeing to practice in
rural communities.
* Enacted a 1989 law requiring the Director of
the Department of Health to establish and
administer quality standards for X-ray
facilities conducting mammography.
* Appointed Dr. Joycelyn Elders State Health
Department Director. She has received the
National Governors' Assocation Distinguished
Service Award, the National Endowment of the
Arts' Mary Futrell Award for Creative
Leadership in Women's Rights, and the American
Medical Association's Dr. Nathan Davis Award.
* In August 1992, Arkansas was one of twelve
states which received funding as part of the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's State
Initiatives in Health Care Financing Reform
Programs. Arkansas was chosen for its
innovative approach to increase health
insurance coverage to residents and to contain
the escalating costs of health care.
* Senator Gore conducted hearings that led to
the passage of the National Organ Transplant
Act, which Gore also helped write. The Act
established a national network to match organ
donors and recipients.
* Led efforts to establish and expand the
National Bone Marrow Donor Registry, which now
lists more than 200,000 potential donors.
* Co-sponsored legislation to help strengthen
rural hospitals.
* Wrote and steered to passage the Cigarette
Labeling Act to require stronger warning
labels on the health effects of smoking.
* Gore authored and helped enact into law the
Trauma Core Revitalization Act, which makes
grants to hospital trauma incurring
substantial uncompensated costs in providing
trauma care in areas of high rates of crime
related drug trafficking.