Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 2, 1993 TAG: 9302020209
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From The Washington Post and Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
HEALTH REFORM VOWED
President Clinton opened the door Monday for states to try new ways to provide health coverage for the uninsured and care for nursing-home patients.He also revealed that he plans to spend $30 billion to boost the economy when he unveils his economic package in his Feb. 17 State of the Union address.
After meeting with the nation's governors for more than two hours, Clinton ordered his administration to dismantle bureaucratic obstacles that keep states from getting a decision on whether they can redesign their Medicaid programs.
Clinton said states were required to wait too long, fight through a rules process too complex and duplicate each other's efforts in seeking to provide the most cost-effective health services they can under federal Medicaid rules.
To remedy that, he directed the Department of Health and Human Services and the Health Care Financing Administration to cut back - to one - requests to any state for more documentation and clarifications of request for waivers.
Clinton has also asked for a list of innovative state programs that would become available to states once one had received federal approval.
"For years and years and years, governors have been screaming for relief from the cumbersome process by which the federal government has micromanaged the health-care system affecting poor Americans," Clinton said.
He stopped short of granting exemptions or waivers to states trying comprehensive health reform.
According to Republican Govs. Carroll Campbell Jr. of South Carolina and William Weld of Massachusetts, Clinton said his package to stimulate the economy will reach $30 billion, half in direct government spending on projects such as road building and half on tax credits to business and industry.
Although Clinton did not say so, it was assumed the package would increase the overall deficit by $30 billion the first year and be accompanied by a deficit-reduction package for later years.