Viking_Yearbook_95

Health Care I f the United States truly had a health care crisis in 1994, you couldn't have proved it by Congress. Despite the exhortations of President Clinton and the First Lady, the year ended without significant health insurance reform. In 1993 the president appointed his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, to head a health care task force. After extensive hearings and much research, the group produced a proposal that became famous — or in­ famous — for its complexity. Meanwhile, sentiment for change seemed to be limited to the minority of Americans who lacked health insurance or feared losing it. In the absence of a public outcry, there was insufficient support in Congress for the Clinton bill, which called for universal coverage. But the president had promised to veto anything less. Mrs. Clinton took some of the blame for the failure. She said she had underestimated the effect­ iveness of the opposition, and didn't realize that the complexity of the ad­ ministration's plan would turn people off. Courtesy ofAssociated Press 13