Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994 TAG: 9401270295
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole pronounced the Clinton health plan "in trouble," but Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., asserted that Americans won't stand for a Republican filibuster.
The president met with House Democratic leaders and key committee chairmen to map strategy.
His surrogates wasted no time making conciliatory sounds on the morning after the president delivered a blunt threat to veto any health reform plan that did not include coverage for every American.
Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen told business groups that Clinton was willing to let more big companies self-insure rather than being forced into the regional alliances where most Americans would have to buy their insurance.
White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers said Clinton stands firm on universal coverage, but the timetable for it is "something that has to be worked out."
Republicans said Clinton will have to jettison employer mandates and limits on health care spending for his legislation to pass this year.
Dole told Fox-TV, "We don't need a triple bypass to take care of the health care delivery system or this massive overdose of government" Clinton proposes.
Bentsen acknowledged big business objects to Clinton's proposal to force all companies with up to 5,000 employees into regional insurance-purchasing alliances. He told the National Association of Manufacturers and a pension group, "We hear you. We're willing to discuss this one and the other details of our plan."
Bentsen said that including in the pools only companies with 100 or fewer workers, as some suggest, would not spread the risks enough.
by CNB