
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994                    TAG: 9406180009 
SECTION: COMMENTARY                     PAGE: J4    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Medium 
DATELINE: 940619                                 LENGTH:

NO BILL BETTER THAN A BAD ONE\

{LEAD} Congress finally came face to face with reality last week, as it became clear that President Clinton's plan for paying for universal health coverage via employer mandates would not fly. Though desperate efforts will be made to resuscitate the corpse, realigning health care along the centralized gosplan lines proposed by the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton looks dead on the table.

Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the key player in the health-care debate, devilishly introduced the president's plan as his own. It soared like a lead balloon, just as the senator likely expected, and the president was forced to ask for a delay. Clearly, the smell of defeat hung heavy in the air.

{REST} Elections and polls show why the health reformers have become gun shy. Democrats have lost every closely contested special and off-year election since the president took office. The prospect of ``free'' health care hasn't significantly helped Democratic candidates in these races and might indeed have hurt in some. Poll after poll shows meager support for Clinton-style root-and-branch overhaul of 12 percent to 14 percent of the economy.

The crux of the issue has always been how to pay for any kind of universal coverage. Having passed a general tax increase during the president's honeymoon by a single vote in each house of Congress, another tax increase to pay for health-care reform, especially in an election year, has never been a serious option. And Canada is proof that you can't finance a health-care program by taxing smokers alone.

So the Clinton administration has sought to mask the tax increases by pushing the cost off onto business in the form of ``employer mandates.'' But as Godfather's Pizza CEO Herb Cain has pointed out, being forced to buy health insurance for all his workers means he would be compelled to fire hundreds of them. Multiply that effect throughout the economy, and it's easy to see why Congress is suddenly scared of Clintoncare.

If the Republicans and sensible Democrats don't lose their nerve and rush into unnecessary compromises, then any plans to nationalize the health-care system will go nowhere. The system needs reform, but the changes must be targeted and deliberate, not overarching and unfocused. The fall campaign is an ideal opportunity to let the two visions clash. From the looks of things so far, the statist approach doesn't have much of a chance.

Congress finally came face to face with reality last week, as it became clear that President Clinton's plan for paying for universal health coverage via employer mandates would not fly. Though desperate efforts will be made to resuscitate the corpse, realigning health care along the centralized gosplan lines proposed by the president and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton looks dead on the table.

Elections and polls show why the health reformers have become gun shy. Democrats have lost every closely contested special and off-year election since the president took office. The prospect of ``free'' health care hasn't significantly helped Democratic candidates in these races and might indeed have hurt in some. Poll after poll shows meager support for Clinton-style root-and-branch overhaul of 12 percent to 14 percent of the economy.

by CNB