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FIRST LADY Hll.I.ARY RODHAM CLINTON
I STUMP SPEECH
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JANUARY 1994
DRAFf
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. [Acknowledgments]
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It is wonderful to be backlin Nevada. You know the one year anniversary of the
President's innaugeration and thelState of the Union Addr~ss this week have put me in a
refl~tive mood. I cannot help but think about how far we have all come since then
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candidate Bill Clinton spoke at UNLV in October of 1992. In the year that this
Adntinistration has been in office: we have worked to revitalize our economy, restore our
sensb of security and renew America's can-do spirit. And together we have accomplished
mo~ in the past 12 months than kyone said was possible.
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Thanks to the dedication ~f millions of Americans -- from our countryside to our
cities to our Congress -- we hav~ made considerable strides over these last 12 months in
fulfining a very ambitious agenrui.
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The Family and Medical Leave Act. Earned income tax credits. National service.
Deficit reduction. NAFfA. Thesb measures -- which the President submitted and Congress
apptoved during the past year --! all reflect a fundamental change that has taken place in our
nation. The days of laissez-faire~ or resignation and deadlock are over. We have all taken
resPonsibility for the future of this country. We have shown that when the American people
set there minds and their hearts t6 doing something, it gets done.
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And I know that our driv~ and our commitment to action will grow even stronger as
we move forward in this new yek -- a year that· holds the hope and promise of achieving the .
mo~t important legislation of a g~neration: health security for every American.
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Our commitment will haJe to be stronger and stronger still. Because however
optimistic I am, I cannot help b~t remember that our nation's past is full of other years and
othbr.promises of health care reform that could not be fulfilled. When President Roosevelt
intrPrluced social Security he triJi to pass health security as well. He could not. Neither
could President Truman or Presi~ent Eisenhower. Twenty years ago President Richard
Nix'on proposed employer-based! private insurance for every American. It did not happen.
Ev~ry President since the 1930's has tried. Health care reform has been introduced in every
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So why hasn't it happened? Why ~as the history of health care reform in this country been a
history of missed opportunities? The answer is fairly simple: Health care reform has not
hap~ned because special interest kroups have been too powerful, and special interest groups
have /way too much invested in k~ing things as they are. These groups benefit from the
same. system that today threatens tb bankrupt our nation and erode our precious sense of
persOnal security.
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Well this Administration knows ~t it was not elected to serve special interest groups; it was
elected to serve the people. And if there is one thing I have learned in the past year, it is
that Jthe people of the United Stafus of America want health care reform. And they want it
now.
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ago, I met a doctor at St. i gnes Hospital in Philadelphia who summed up the
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problem so simply. He said: "Yo~ know, there's an old saying: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
We~, Mrs Clinton, our health caie system is 'broke' and I'm begging you to make sure that
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it gets fixed.'"
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If I did not understand the full scope and magnitude of the doctor's statement then; I
cerd.inly do now. In the past ytir I have learned a tremendous amount about our current
health care system. I have had thb privilege to speak: to Americans from all walks of life
aboJt their experiences. I have rebeived nearly one million letters from concerned citizens.
I will not forget what I
seen and heard.
Andl
haV,
I have heard from health care prdfessionals, business owners, employees, seniors, students
and :others- and they all say the ~e thing: our health care system is broken and it needs to
be fixed.
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I ha~e heard of the hardships endured by men and women whose benefits were cut off
beduse they switched jobs.' I ha~e met single mothers who tell me it is more economical to
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staylon welfare and receive Medicaid than to take a good job that offered no health
insurance. I have heard from seiuors who had to choose each month whether to use their
savfugs to pay for rent or pay fot medicine. I have heard from a woman who was billed
2400 dollars for a pair of crutchds. And I have met too many people who reached their
'lifetime limit' on insurance cov~rage and had to die with out health care coverage. And
heatd the stories of too many fabily members working two full-time jobs to payoff their
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I will not forget these people.
Wei cannot forget. Because thesel stories are the crux of the issue before us .. The men,
women and children who told them are the heart of this country. We cannot forget because
wh~ you cut through all the rh~toric, all the politics, and all the sound bytes, what remains
is that 39.5 million Americans ate uninsured. The fact remains that every month, 2 million
Arriericans lose their insurance fbr some period of time. Here in Nevada 26 percent of the
population is uninsured. Hospi~tion rates consistently rank as highest or second-highest
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in the nation. If someone--someohe either in this room or someone you know-- becomes
seriously ill, their entire family's kvings Could be wiped out. The fact is that every year
over IlOO,()()() middle-class familie~ declare bankruptcy because of a serious illness or injury.
~ost
of us, the meaning of Je word "insurance" has been lost. Sure, most Americans
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do h~ve insurance right now--but ;check the fine print. Because three out four of those
insurance policies have "lifetime limits". Even if you have insurance, you have a 76 percent
chanbe of finding your benefits cOt off if you get really sick. 69 percent of insurance
poli~ies deny benefits to those w~o need them most by refusing to cover pre-existing
conditions. An estimated 81 million Americans under the age of 65 have medical problems
for thich insurance companies ct1arge higher premiums, exclude coverage or deny coverage
altogether.
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Yet even in the face of thlse troubling statistics, even when confronted with report
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after. report about hard-working families who can't get adequate health care for themselves or
then! children or their aging parertts, there are some who still believe that health care reform
isn'l really necessary.
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In fact, some insist there
fiction.
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no health care crisis at all, that it's all just fantasy or
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That theory may sound Pllusible to people living in an ivory tower, but it certainly
isn't plausible to millions of Am~ricans who live in the real world.
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If you think there's no crisis, try telling that to the one million people who wrote
letters to the White House last ytk with stories about our health care system.
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Try telling it to parents
can't get an immunization for a child because their
insurance won't cover it. Try telling it to senior citizens who can't get prescription drugs
because their coverage won't pa~ for them. Or to the hard-working employee who can't gel'
cov~rage after switching jobs and moving to a new city. Try telling it to the cancer patient
wh6 is denied coverage because ~f a so-called "pre-existing condition." Try telling it to
doctors and nurses who spend more hours filling out forms than tending to patients.
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Go ahead and tell these people that there is no health care crisis. Because the President and I
won't.
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wJ will tell these our health ~ system.will tell pick and choosenow thethey cover.companies
people the trul. We
them that right
insurance
ha~e control over
They
whom
They use
"lifetime limits" and loopholes ili cut off your benefits. And they drop you when you get
sick. We will tell them that thel current system is rigged against families and small
bu~inesses. And we will tell them that we agree with them that this has got to change. The
coritrol over our health care system must be put back where it belongs--with the American
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people.
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All of our efforts on health care Jform have been based on a very simple principle-- the
doc~r at St. Agnes said, "if it am;'t broke, don't fix it. n We are committed to building on
what I works in our system. And there can be no doubt--we have the best health care system
in the world. We have the best h6Ith care professionals, cutting edge research and fantastic
~h institutions.
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In thl past year I 'have been consLtly overwhelmed by our medical community. I have seen
doctOrs in inner city emergency rboms battling to save lives hour after hour, day after day. I
havel seen talented young health eke professionals donate their services to people in rural
areas who cannot afford to pay thbm. Just this morning I took a tour of the University
Mec:tical Center here in Las VegJ and I was so proud to see its comprehensive in--and out
pati~nt AIDS unit and the excellebt care its rehabilitation unit provides. I was so proud of
what is arguably one of this counir'Y's most advanCed Trauma and Pediatric Centers.
Th~
is so much about our curre,ht system to be proud of, and this cannot be put at risk ..
We have to fix what is wrong wfth our health care system today before it undermines even
further all that is right about it. 'fe have to ensure that every American has access to
affot-dahle, high-quality health
that is always there.
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The President wants to give every American the guaranteed private insurance that they
. deserve. His approach builds on Ithe current system with two critical changes. First, it will
pro~ide mil health security. Unlike other proposals, the President's approach outlaws
insurance company discriminatio? It makes it illegal for the insurance companies to decide
wh~ gets coverage and how much they pay. It ends lifetime limits on coverage to ensure
that health care is there when yo~ need it.
The Clinton approach would gualantee a comprehensive benefits package that includes
coverage for preventive care andi prescription drugs. It protects older Americans by
pwkrving Medicare and by adding new coverage for prescription drugs and some long-term
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care.
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Second, the President's approachi offers greater consumer power for people and small
businesses to choose quality healr insurance at lower cost.
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Right now we are paying more ~d more money for less and less care. Right now your
choice as a patient and/or as a physician is being limited every single day as employers and
inst4-ance companies attempt to ieduce services and rein in cost by locking up market share.
Right now doctors and nurses ar~ forced to spend less time with patients and more time
navigating the paperwork jungle that our present system has become. .
Th~ President's approach would reverse these trends: we would have a health care system
with more choice, less
bu~uc1cy
and more care for less money.
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The President's approach is not ju~t for the good of those without insurance, but for the good
of all of us.
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It will help make our natioh, our society, our families, stronger overall. It will make
life better for children, and paren~, and aging relatives. It will make life better for the
healthy and the sick. It will make life better for doctors and nurses -- and of course, for their
patiertts. It will give us all greater lemotional and fInancial security.
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As the debate on health
reform progresses, you will hear a lot about other
approaches. We believe you shou~d consider these alternatives very carefully. Any time you
are ptesented with a proposal for health care reform ask yourselves the following questions:
Does I this plan provide real health security?--Does it guarantee comprehensive benefIts to
eve!), American that can never be taken away? Does the plan outlaw insurance
discrimination or will insurance companies still be able to pick and choose whom they will
covet and how much they will pay? Is the guranteed package of benefIts comprehensive or
barebones, is the package of benefits spelled out in law or is it left to be determined by a .
govetnment board at a later date? I
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Ask yourself if the plan is good for older Americans. Make sure it passes the 'mom test'.
Because the alternatives threaten ~niors with less coverage and higher bills. They don't
provide new benefIts and use Meqicare as a bank to pay other bills unrelated to health care.
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·Jtha
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t answers t h ·
ese questions to our satis action-- an
If Ulere IS an alternative approacu
apprbach that provides universal doverage, that guarantees a comprehensive package of
benefits, that contains costs and ehds discrimination in the marketplace, an approach that
presJrves Medicare and protects ~nior citizens, we welcome it. The challenge before all of
us isl to fInd the beest way to achibve these goals.
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For the past year, our natibn has engaged in a wonderful and historic discussion of
health care. Now it's time to moJe beyond questions about whether we need health care
refotm to when we will achieve it. Now it's time to act.
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I In the past week, our natibn has witnessed the terrible tragedy of a severe earthquake
in southern California. As we haJe seen over and over on the television news, families and
comhlUnities have been ravaged by the d~vastation, left without homes, left without clothes
and, in some cases, left without lrVed ones.
That's what happens wherl a disaster strikes with no warning.
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like an earthquake, a seriLs illness can wreak: havoc on a family with no insurance.
Eveh if it doesn't claim a life, it Ibm leave relatives in fInancial ruin.
As we think about health bare reform over the coming months, we must think not
only about ourselves, but about dur friends and neighbors and communities. Like the
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residents of Los Angeles, who resi,onded to the earthquake with acts of heroism, courage,
comPassion. and generosity. we
do .the same in the face of a national health can: crisis.
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Health care reform is abo~t all of us. That's why we must act now -- not recldessly,
not impulsively, but with care and thought and foresight. If we have the courage, the
comPassion - and the wisdom -- fo achieve real health care reform now, we will better for it
in the years and decades ahead. Most important, we will have helped stave off a disaster in
the ~aldng.
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I Thank y o u . ·
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Lissa Muscatine - Press Office
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First Lady's Office
Press Office
Lissa Muscatine
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1993 - 1997
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<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36239" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431941" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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2011-0415-S
Description
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<p>Lissa Muscatine first served in the Clinton Administration as a speechwriter. Within the First Lady’s Office, she served as Communications Director to the First Lady.</p>
<p>Lissa Muscatine’s records consist of materials from First Lady Hillary Clinton’s Press Office, highlighting topics such as health care, women’s rights, the Millennium Council, Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, and deal extensively with press interviews given by the First Lady; her domestic and foreign travel; and speeches and remarks, on a wide variety of topics, given by her before and during her time as First Lady. The records include interview transcripts, press releases, speeches and speech transcripts.</p>
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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1,324 folders in 27 boxes
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HRC Remarks [Binder]:[Stump Speech, Nevada, January 1994; Health Care]
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Box 27
<a href="http://clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/Systematic/2011-0415-S-Muscatine.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="http://catalog.archives.gov/id/7431941" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
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First Lady's Office
Press Office
Lissa Muscatine
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2011-0415-S
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Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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11/26/2012
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2011-0415-S-hrc-greatest-hits-binder-stump-speech-nevada-january-1994-health-care
7431941