Democratic presidential nominee Michael S. Dukakis, assailingGeorge Bush's 'record of neglect' on health care, promised today toseek national legislation that would guarantee private healthinsurance benefits for most American workers and their families.
Dukakis, who has long advocated such a mandatory health insuranceprogram, provided few new details of the promised initiative. Buthis renewed pledge of broader health insurance benefits-like hisearlier proposal for a new college student loan program-was aimeddirectly at the majority of middle-class Americans who Dukakismaintains are being 'squeezed' by the rising costs of health care,education and other necessities.
It was a day of contrasts on the campaign trail that Dukakistried to use to his advantage. While Bush visited a flag factory inNew Jersey, the Massachusetts governor began his day at a Houstonhospital, where he discussed the need for health insurance with abouta dozen people, including two cancer patients and three unemployedsteelworkers.
Speaking at Western Kentucky University here later today from astage filled with white-uniformed nurses, Dukakis recalled the'tragic stories' he heard in Houston and ridiculed Bush's flag-ladencampaigning.
'Mr. Bush, don't you think it's time you came out from behindthat flag and told us what you intend to do to provide basic healthcare for 37 million of our fellow citizens?' he said.
'The fact is that Mr. Bush has no plan, but he does have arecord-a record of indifference, a record of neglect, a record thateven the American flag can't hide . . . . When the time came tostand up for the health needs of America's families, George Bush wasnowhere to be found.'
The Bush campaign dismissed the Dukakis proposal as 'socializedmedicine pure and simple.' Spokesman Mark Goodin called the plan 'aprescription for financial disaster' and said the solution for thoseAmericans who do not have insurance is not government forcingbusinesses to provide it but incentives for business to do so andefforts by the government to make insurance more available andaffordable.
The Democratic nominee spoke to an enthusiastic crowd, recallingthat his late father was a doctor and promising: 'When Americans getsick, the first question they hear will be the question my fatherused to ask-not `how can you pay?' but `where does it hurt?' '
Aides to Dukakis said the health insurance plan would reach about22 million of the estimated 37 million uninsured Americans byrequiring that most employers provide health insurance coverage fortheir employees. They said it would be modeled on pendinglegislation sponsored by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Rep.Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), which Dukakis has endorsed in concept butnot detail. It also would draw on legislation enacted inMassachusetts this year that provides incentives to business toobtain insurance coverage for employees, they said.
Dukakis said some small businesses might be exempted from therequirement, but would be offered special incentives to provide theiremployees with health insurance.
Most of the details of the Dukakis plan remain to be worked out,including measures to provide insurance coverage for part-timeworkers, the self-employed and the unemployed. Dukakis said he wouldappoint a task force with orders to report to him by March 30 onoptions to deal with these categories of uninsured Americans.
The Kennedy-Waxman legislation is fiercely opposed by businessbecause of its cost. David Blumenthal, a Boston physician andhospital administrator who is a health adviser to the Dukakiscampaign, said the average cost of insurance under the bill isestimated at $1,300 a year per worker. Employers would pay 80percent of the cost, employees 20 percent.
But Blumenthal argued that business already is spending billionsof dollars in indirect subsidies to cover the cost of health care foruninsured Americans. He conceded that some estimate up to 100,000minimum-wage jobs could be lost if business is required to providehealth insurance, but said many of these would be made up by anexpansion in health care service jobs as more insured Americanssought medical care.@Slug: A14DUK
