
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 6, 1993                   TAG: 9310060032
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By CAROLYN CLICK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOODLATTE, GROUP BACK QUICK REFORMS

Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, said he and 100 of his House colleagues will push President Clinton to back immediate passage of some noncontroversial elements of the health care package - including insurance reforms, tax deductible insurance for the self-employed and more coverage of preventive care.

"The American people should not have to wait for us to resolve our differences over every health care issue in order to see significant, cost-saving improvements in our health care system," the group said in a letter to the President.

The lawmakers who signed the letter are predominantly Republican, although there are 28 Democrats - including two Virginians, Reps. Owen Pickett of Virginia Beach and Norman Sisisky of Petersburg. In addition to Goodlatte, two other Virginia Republicans signed the letter: Herbert Bateman of Newport News and Thomas Bliley of Richmond.

Last week, Hillary Rodham Clinton told the House Ways and Means Committee the administration would not support piecemeal passage of the legislation, apparently fearing it would diminish the overall reforms the administration hopes to achieve within five years.

"My understanding is that the Clintons would prefer to keep everything together," Goodlatte said. "They may be afraid that if some of the things people can agree on will be pulled out, the rest of the plan won't go through."

But Goodlatte said the number of Democrats who have endorsed quick passage of the less controversial issues "indicates to me that there is a lot of support for an alternative to the president's plan."

"I feel comfortable saying, `Let's do something about this now,' " said Goodlatte. "It would save a lot of money and solve a lot of problems as we debate a lot of the more dramatic reforms he is calling for."

The lawmakers believe there will be little disagreement about the need for insurance reforms that would guarantee employees coverage when they change jobs and would prohibit exclusions based on pre-existing conditions. The streamlining of claims forms and assuring the self-insured that they could deduct 100 percent of the cost of their health insurance from their taxes also has few detractors.

Rep. Michael Bilirakis, R-Fla., led the signature drive, apparently encouraged by the bipartisan support for many elements of health care reform.

"The idea is that if we have such broad agreement on these, why don't we do them now?" said Bob Meyers, Bilirakis' administrative assistant. "They can be of real concrete value to people right now, today. . . . The letter says, `Hey, this is our first shot, a lot of people feel the same way we do.' "

He said Bilirakis would work through the committee process to enact the legislation.

by CNB