According to the recent trove of internal documents released by the Bill Clinton presidential library on Friday, the former US president was just like Barack Obama - they both wanted to tell people they can opt to keep their health plans.
A private White House transcript detailed a prep session for a presidential conference back in August 1994, Politico said. Clinton at that conference was supposed to set up a health care reform vote that never happened. During the prep session, Clinton and White House aides were discussing at that time how the American people would feel more comfortable about a healthcare initiative to cover just about everyone in the US. Transcript revealed that Clinton too, was concerned about the possible reaction of people who already have health plans set up.
Politico said that Obama's "if you like your plan, you can keep it" promise did not have a very good reaction with the same people when it became clear they had to upgrade their health plans to be able to meet Obamacare standards. The political opinion and news site said that during the prep session, Clinton and party did not attempt to address that particular dilemma, and instead focused on his plan's mandates. Clinton's mandates on the proposed plan were reportedly leaning on requiring employers to provide coverage for their workers. Moreover, Clinton was also looking at how to break it down to the American people that there should be shared responsibility to be able to cover most Americans.
"We have no example anywhere of where you can cover everybody and hold costs down and maintain quality and choice unless there is some sort of shared responsibility. The American people need to know that we have given them reassurance, but that the biggest controversy is over whether it should be universal or not. They've never varied in their support for the fundamental elements of our plan," Clinton was quoted in the transcript.
