Making one final pitch for his sweeping health-care plan, the president turned to the issue of cost. Making health insurance affordable, he told the primetime television audience, meant ensuring that "everybody is covered — and this is a very important thing — unless everybody is covered, we will never be able to fully put the brakes on health care inflation."
In the president's analysis, achieving universal coverage meant that the federal government had to compel consumers to purchase insurance and force businesses to offer it. "Some call it an employer mandate, but I think it's the fairest way to achieve responsibility in the health care system," the president said, defending the controversial proposal. "And it's the easiest for ordinary Americans to understand, because it builds on what we already have and what already works for so many Americans."
The president conceded that some people would have to pay more as a result of the costly requirements, while others would get financial relief. "If you're a small business with fewer than 50 employees, you'll get a subsidy. If you're a firm that provides only very limited coverage, you may have to pay more....If you're a young single person in your twenties and you're already insured, your rates may go up somewhat because you're going to go into a big pool with middle-aged people and older people," the president said. "[A]nd we want to enable people to keep their insurance even when someone in their family gets sick....If you currently get your health insurance through your job, under our plan, you still will. And for the first time, everybody will get to choose from among at least three plans," he promised.
This was the president's closing address to the American people as he made one final push for passage of his sweeping plan. It was delivered on September 22, 1993. The president was Bill Clinton.
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