Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 31, 1993 TAG: 9308310059
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
But the GOP senators also came down firmly against a mandate on employers - which Clinton favors - and against price controls.
"We are offering this in a constructive posture to show where there are votes [among Republicans] for meaningful health-care reform," said Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo.
The 24 signers include Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas; Sens. John H. Chafee of Rhode Island, the head of the Senate Republican Health Care Task Force; Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee; and Nancy L. Kassebaum of Kansas, the top Republican on Labor and Human Resources.
The 20 Republicans who did not sign the document include such conservatives as Phil Gramm of Texas, Dan Coats of Indiana and John McCain of Arizona, who favor letting workers accumulate tax-free savings to cover their medical bills.
Bond, Chafee and other moderate Republicans favor private-sector health-insurance purchasing cooperatives to help small businesses and individuals buy coverage at affordable rates.
But Bond said there is a danger the Clinton administration would make regulatory "monsters" out of the cooperatives.
Bond said the government could save $30 billion by limiting the open-ended tax breaks that corporations and employees now enjoy on health insurance.
Kevin Anderson, a White House spokesman, said, "To those who reject mandates out of hand. . . . we ask, `Show us another way to guarantee health care that's always there to all Americans.' "
"We do not think it's going to cause a single small business to close its doors," he said.
by CNB