Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200102
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Medium
For weeks, members of Congress have been arguing about whether Clinton's demand for health care for all citizen had to mean, literally, care for everyone - a goal that almost certainly cannot be achieved without a law requiring companies to provide insurance for all workers - or whether the White House would accept something less, such as insurance for 95 percent of Americans.
And for weeks, White House officials strenuously have refused to get into that argument, fearing that to clarify their stance would evaporate the convenient ambiguity that may be needed to reach compromise on Capitol Hill.
Clinton changed that Tuesday.
Speaking at the annual conference of the nation's governors, Clinton said he recognizes that any piece of legislation would fall short of truly covering anyone and he would be satisfied if Congress can pass a bill that moves in the direction of universal coverage.
``We know we're not going to get right at 100 percent, but we know that you've got to get somewhere in the ballpark of 95 percent or upwards,'' he said in response to a question from a Republican governor who asked whether he would settle for something less than universal, employer-financed coverage.
Clinton also said he would accept a plan that did not have the requirement for companies to cover all workers, the so-called employer mandate, but he added the qualifying phrase, ``if we knew that we were moving toward full coverage and we had some evidence that it would work.''
Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole, R-Kan., the leading foe of the Clinton health plan, was so taken with the president's comments that he read a transcript of them before a cluster of microphones and a bank of television cameras. Dole said Clinton appeared to be ``inching in our direction.''
by CNB