President George H.W. Bush kicked off the redesign of our health care system with a request to study the “benefits” of a system of nationalized, automated medical records (1990). The goal wasn’t for a national system of health care. It was for a national – and ultimately global system of health care delivered through the telecommunications system (Internet).
The health insurance reform was to build a network of insurers and to provide hidden subsidies depending on a person or family’s income. This reform wouldn’t be implemented until the Obama Administration – colloquially known as Obama Care. Universal health insurance with back door subsidies. The system is really government-insurance companies – partners in fraud.
It should be noted that in this context, the word “market” means a computer system – centralized management of a function.
Health Insurance Market Reforms, 1992
The following are extracts from speeches and speaking events for President George Bush. They prove that the “reform of health care” was initiated by Bush and it wasn’t reform of health care, it was the socialization of the health insurance market. [Note the appointment of Gail R. Wilensky as Deputy Assistant to the President for Policy Development, February 24, 1992 and the connection to an international foundation, Project Hope (Health Opportunities for People Everywhere) and the connection to President Dwight David Eisenhower.]
Bush was not in office long enough for the plans to come to fruition. The Clinton Administration picked up the initiative but Clinton made a mistake by appointing Hillary to head up the Commission that was intended to write/review legislation for the ‘market reforms’. That didn’t stop the so-called reforms. It just made them remove Hillary from the public picture.
Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, January 28, 1992
Step six, we must reform our health care system. For this, too, bears on whether or not we can compete in the world. American health costs have been exploding. This year America will spend over $800 billion on health, and that is expected to grow to 1.6 trillion by the end of the decade. We simply cannot afford this. The cost of health care shows up not only in your family budget but in the price of everything we buy and everything we sell.
Really, there are only two options. And we can move toward a nationalized system, a system which will restrict patient choice in picking a doctor and force the Government to ration services arbitrarily. And what we’ll get is patients in long lines, indifferent service, and a huge new tax burden. Or we can reform our own private health care system, which still gives us, for all its flaws, the best quality health care in the world.
Well, let’s build on our strengths. My plan provides insurance security for all Americans while preserving and increasing the idea of choice. We make basic health insurance affordable for all low-income people not now covered, and we do it by providing a health insurance tax credit of up to $3,750 for each low-income family. And the middle class gets help, too. And by reforming the health insurance market, my plan assures that Americans will have access to basic health insurance even if they change jobs or develop serious health problems.
Remarks to the Small Business Legislative Council, February 05, 1992
And let me discuss a critical issue in that plan, health care. I know health care has become a problem for many of you and your employees. And tomorrow I’m going to be announcing in detail my comprehensive health care plan. And I know you’ll like it. I believe you’ll like it a lot. People today worry about health care, yes. It costs too much, great concern. It’s tough to find good comprehensive coverage. And you can’t make choices like you used to. And you can’t count on coverage if you move and change jobs or fall victim to a debilitating condition or disease.
I believe our plan solves these problems. And my plan ensures that people can find health care, choose health care, afford health care, and keep health care. I know that everyone with a plan promises the same thing, and that’s why you have to use your common sense in evaluating the various proposals. And when you get right down to it, there are two fundamental health care choices. We can adopt a system that’s been a proven failure all over the world, nationalized health care. Or we can reform our present system, which has its faults, certainly, but which also provides the highest quality care on Earth.
People come from all over the world to participate in our health care. And if you want the freedom to choose your own doctor, to hold the line on costs, and to improve access to health insurance coverage, push for my plan. Look it over carefully. We’re going to need your support. It gives everyone, and I emphasize everyone, access to the world’s best health care, and it doesn’t exclude anybody. So, take a look at this and support us if you can.
February 6, 1992 – Cleveland, Remarks to the Greater Cleveland Growth Association in Cleveland, Ohio
People who know northern Ohio know that this region’s on the move. In addition to the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, now the city’s number one employer, northern Ohio is also home to some of the most innovative approaches to health care. COSE and Cleveland Health Quality Choice are pioneers. Communities across the country can follow your lead to create workable solutions to health care challenges. And I had a briefing in Washington from the leaders of these organizations, and that really is why I’ve chosen to come to Cleveland this morning to address the health care crisis in our country and lay out my four-point program for comprehensive health care reform.
I don’t believe people want to be shoveled into some new health care bureaucracy. They want good health. A large part of the answer is prevention. And every one of us can make changes in our behavior to reduce the risk of disease and illness. And pardon me for being just a little bit old-fashioned, but what we’re talking about is behavior: drugs, alcohol abuse, risky sexual behavior. You know what I’m talking about. And there’s nothing wrong discussing that, trying to do better in this field. Tomorrow, in San Diego, I’ll focus in more detail on the ways prevention can help people live healthier lives and help keep our economy healthy, too.
But today I want to focus on the health care system, on this comprehensive, market-based reform plan I have. The fact is, we do not have to create a new Government bureaucracy to give Americans access to affordable, quality health care. We need a system that delivers, a system that works for America, a system that puts quality care within reach of every American family.
Our system should be built on choice, not central control. It should keep costs down and open up access. But above all, it should allow all Americans to rest secure when it comes to health care, to ease their worry that if they change jobs, if they or their kids develop serious health problems, they’ll still be able to count on the coverage they need. Now, my comprehensive four-point plan meets every one of these commonsense tests. And here’s how it works.
Point one, we will make health care more accessible by making health insurance more affordable. For low-income individuals and families, I propose a health insurance credit, up to $3,750 a year to guarantee people, even people too poor to file taxes, the ability to purchase private health insurance.
For middle-income individuals and families, I propose a health insurance tax deduction of $3,750. American families with incomes under $80,000 will receive new help from either the credit or the tax deduction. Let me tell you what that means: new help to purchase health insurance for 95 million Americans. And once again, this insurance will be portable.
Point two, we will cut the runaway costs of health care by making the system more efficient. Today, I’m asking you to learn a new acronym, HIN, health insurance networks. Insurance costs obey the law of large numbers. The larger the group being insured, the lower the cost per individual. Pooling lowers insurance costs and significantly cuts administrative costs. HIN’s will provide incentives for small companies to do what Cleveland’s COSE group has done when it brought 10,000 small businesses together to make a joint purchase of health care. The Nation should listen and follow.
Another way to drive costs down: Make everyone a better health care consumer. Right now, most people pay more attention to the price of toothpaste then the comparative costs of health care. People don’t waste much time thinking about the costs of their care, but in the end we all pay the price. We need to follow the lead of initiatives like Cleveland Health Quality Choice, programs that give people shopping for health care a kind of blue book for medical costs. Innovations like these will help all of us keep the costs of quality health care as low as possible.
Point three, we will wring out waste and excess in the present system. We’ve targeted medical malpractice for reform. It is time to put an end to these astronomical, sky’s-the-limit lawsuits. You shouldn’t have to pay a lawyer when you go to the doctor. And our doctors, the most able and dedicated in the world, shouldn’t be living in fear of these outrageous lawsuits. And high malpractice premiums mean higher doctors’ bills, higher hospital costs, costs passed along not only to the patient but to every American taxpayer.
Now, I have challenged the health insurance industry to cut redtape, to share common forms, to simplify and speed up claims processing. And here’s a challenge for the next 4 years: There is no reason almost all health insurance claims can’t be processed electronically. That single step would eliminate a mountain of health care paperwork and pare back costs.
We’ve got to attack the excesses of mandated benefits. When States now order health insurers to cover 1,000 different types of treatment, something’s gone wrong. Next thing they’ll be covering manicures for Millie. [Laughter] It’s gone too far. And I think everybody knows it. And we should challenge the States to do something about the excessive mandates that shoot these costs right up through the roof.
Fourth and finally, we will get the growth in Government health programs under control. Right now, Government health care programs can claim a dubious distinction: They are the fastest growing parts in the Federal budget. For those of you interested in history, go back and listen to what was said about these programs at their inception. Go back and hear the rhetoric on the floor of the United States Congress. And now compare that to what actually has happened in these costs. This year alone, this year alone, let me repeat that, Medicaid costs will increase by 38 percent. We will not, repeat, not cut benefits. We can make real savings simply by reducing this huge rate of increase. We must bring runaway costs under control. Smart, sensible efficiencies will help our reform plan pay for itself.
The Federal Government should also give States flexibility to design these new universal access programs for the poor, programs that will provide quality services to all their citizens. I’ve just met with Governor Voinovich and the rest of the Governors. Regardless of party, Democrat or Republican, it doesn’t matter, they want flexibility. And we must give it to them. Right here in Ohio, your Governor has proposed health care reforms that will do for this State what we want to do on the Federal level. States should be able to use new Federal resources to design programs that work, not some one-size-fits-all solution imposed by Washington, DC.
Providing affordable care, efficient care, wringing out excess and waste, and controlling Federal growth. These four points will create the kind of market-based reform plan that will give Americans the kind of health care they want and deserve and put an end to the worry that keeps them awake at night.
We need commonsense, comprehensive health care reform, and we need it now. And my plan I really believe is the right plan, a plan that meets our obligation to all Americans by putting hope and health within their reach.
Cleveland has led the way. Your hospitals, COSE, citizens in this community are way out front for these principles. And it’s most appropriate that I give this speech to the Nation on health care reform right here in this city that is leading the way.
Since 1990 Ms. Wilensky has served as Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration, the Agency that administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Prior to this, she was the vice president of health affairs at Project HOPE, an international health foundation. She has taught economics and public policy at the University of Michigan and George Washington University and has held several appointments in the Public Health Service and at the Urban Institute.
Radio Address to the Nation on Health Care Reform, July 03, 1992
It’s time to reform our antiquated system, move things into the electronic age. Our legislation would cut paperwork and redtape and put health insurance on a modern electronic billing system. Going to the doctor should involve no more paperwork than using a credit card. I’ve also asked that horse-and-buggy-era rules end and that practices for patient records and consumer health information be replaced with computerization. By the end of the decade, these two reforms alone would save Americans an estimated $24 billion a year.
The Senate has not approved recommended program terminations that were proposed in the President’s budget. These include the Community Services Block Grant, Refugee and Entrant Assistance, Untargeted Health Professions Curriculum Assistance Grants, and Job Training Partnership Act set-asides. Instead of reducing or eliminating such programs, the Senate has reduced many other programs, including high priority programs of proven value.
These include Healthy Start, community and migrant health centers, and homeless health care grants. The Senate is urged to consider funding for high priority programs included in the President’s budget so that these programs and others discussed below and in the attachment can be funded.
