"In order to best serve the American people, such a program must include three basic principles:
--It must maintain the patient's freedom to choose his own physician.
--It must build on the capacity and diversity of our existing private system of health care, rather than to tear it down and seek to erect a costly, federally dominated structure in its place.
--And it must provide all parties-consumers, providers, carriers, and State governments--with a direct stake in making the health care system work.
The comprehensive health insurance plan which I have proposed meets these criteria. It is the only one of the major proposals now before Congress which does SO.
It is the only major plan that offers extensive, uniform health coverage without raising your taxes, without severely damaging the effective private health insurance industry that has helped to make this generation of Americans the healthiest, best cared-for in our history, and without establishing an enormous new Federal bureaucracy.
Most important of all, under the comprehensive health insurance plan, your doctor would continue to work for you, and not for the Federal Government. These basic principles must not be sacrificed or compromised.
While I believe the plan I have submitted is sound in its basic objectives, we are not ruling out compromise where compromise does not violate the basic principles of our proposals which I have described. I welcome the development of the new plan sponsored by Senator Kennedy and Congressman Mills which includes many of the same features as the Administration proposal. I also believe that the proposal sponsored by Senators Long and Ribicoff focuses well deserved attention on the problem of catastrophic illnesses. Members of the House and Senate have made constructive proposals which deserve consideration in other areas. However, major differences remain.
The Kennedy-Mills proposal would be administered almost totally by the Federal Government, and it would be paid for by increasing your Federal payroll taxes. It would be a compulsory plan, forcing the participation of those who do not need or who do not want coverage, as well as those who do.
The Long-Ribicoff alternative proposal would also be directly administered by the Federal Government, but in most cases, it would only offer coverage for catastrophic illnesses and leave participants unprotected against many other substantial health costs which are covered by the comprehensive health insurance plan which I have proposed.
The Administration plan would offer every American broad and balanced health protection through one of three major programs:
--The employee health insurance would cover most Americans and be available through their jobs. The cost would be shared by employers and employees on a fair basis.
--An improved Medicare plan would cover those 65 and over and would include additional medical costs and benefits not included under the current Medicare system.
--The assisted health insurance plan would cover low-income Americans and persons who would be ineligible for the other two programs, with the Federal and State governments paying those costs which are beyond the means of the individual insured.
The medical care offered by these three plans would be identical for all Americans regardless of age or income. Benefits would be provided for hospital care, physicians' care in and out of the hospital, prescription and lifesaving drugs, laboratory tests and X-rays, medical devices, ambulance services, and many other forms of health care.
There would be no exclusions from coverage based on the nature of the illness....." - Richard Nixon, 1974
