
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300251
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: From Newsday and the Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

HEALTH-CARE PLAN GAINS GOP BACKER, AMA NEUTRALITY

On her second day as star witness on Capitol Hill for the administration's health-care plan, Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday picked up the support of a Republican, Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont, who said he would eagerly co-sponsor the legislation.

The endorsement was not a surprise to Clinton - Jeffords is a moderate Republican who has worked closely with the administration on various aspects of its plan.

But Jeffords' announcement during a Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee hearing provided a notably bright moment to a day rife with expressions of doubts and fears by other Republicans about the intrusive hand of "big government" coming to bear under President Clinton's plan and about the impact on small businesses.

In what amounts to a modest victory for the Clinton administration, the American Medical Association, which has historically opposed government intervention in medicine, announced Wednesday it will "neither endorse nor oppose" the health-care plan.

At the same time, however, the organization put the administration on notice that it will actively lobby Congress for significant changes in the program, including tougher limits on malpractice claims.

At one point during an afternoon hearing before the House Education and Labor Committee, Hillary Rodham Clinton exchanged good-natured barbs with Rep. Richard Armey, R-Texas, who has been one of the more acerbic critics of the Clinton plan. Armey, who recently called the proposal a "Dr. Kevorkian prescription for the jobs of American working men and women," said Wednesday he would join Democrats in trying "to make the debate as exciting as possible."

"I'm sure you will - you and Dr. Kevorkian," Clinton retorted without skipping a beat. Armey's face flamed red as Democrats erupted into hoots and applause.

"I have been told about your charm and wit," an embarrassed but laughing Armey told her. "Reports on your charm are overstated; reports on your wit are understated."

Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., challenged the Clinton plan's assumption that government could be more efficient than the private sector.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, took issue with what he called price controls: "They didn't work in the '70s, and I don't think they're going to work any better now."

And Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., said he feared the creation of a national board with such "awesome" powers.

In response, Clinton argued that with health care, the private sector is actually less efficient than the government because it spends so many resources trying to avoid, not insure, sick customers.

She said the premium caps were a "disciplinary backstop" and insisted that competition would make them unnecessary in "a majority of the cases."

And she argued that the national board, which would have the authority to modify the benefits package, set premium caps and set in motion a federal takeover of a state health system not in compliance with federal guidelines, would be far less powerful than met the eye.

Keywords:
INFOLINE

by CNB