For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 11, 2002
President Bush Outlines Health Care Agenda
Remarks by the President on Health Care Reform
Medical College of Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Fact Sheet The President's Proposals for Health Security
2:52 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much Tommy, I
appreciate your introduction. You hear may be in Wisconsin,
but you've got to keep your address where it is right now; I'm counting
on you. He's doing a fabulous
job. (Applause.) I love Wisconsin for a lot of
reasons: one, you produced Thompson. I love you
so much I even come in the winter, which is hard
for Texan. (Laughter and applause.)
It is an honor to visit this distinguished place of learning, which
trains so many outstanding physicians. I happen to know
something about Wisconsin doctors. I'm pretty familiar with
them, after all, the White House is Colonel Richard Tubb, raised right
here in Wisconsin. He's not only a fine doctor, he
fortunately got special instructions on pretzel-related
conditions. (Laughter and applause.) My advice
is, swallow after you chew. (Laughter.)
But the Medical College of Wisconsin represents the future of
health care, here and throughout our country. It's a fitting
place to address the great opportunities and challenges that the future
will bring our country. Our health care system is in need of important
reform, and on the verge of amazing discovery. We must seize
the moment for the benefit of all Americans.
And that's why I want to thank Scott McCallum for welcoming me
here, and I appreciate his leadership for the state of
Wisconsin. I want to thank the members of the congressional
delegation: Barrett, Petri, Ryan, Sensenbrenner for coming,
as well. It's good to see all of you. I'm looking
forward to working with you to do what's right for the citizens in
terms of health care.
I appreciate Michael, his leadership and his
hospitality. I want to thank the docs who gave me a
briefing. And I want to thank all of you for your warm --
for your warm welcome.
I want to talk about two things, and they both have to do with the
challenges we face. I briefly want to talk a little bit
about the challenge we face abroad. And then I want to talk
about the challenge we face at home, particularly with health care.
First, the enemy made a bad mistake. They don't
understand us. Let me rephrase that, they didn't understand
us. They do now. We are patient. We're resolved
people. But we are absolutely determined to defend freedom.
(Applause.)
I'm pleased to report that out of the evil have come some good, one
of which is that in Washington, there is no difference between
Republicans and Democrats as to who is the most patriotic, or who wants
to win the most. All of us want to win the war against terror, for
which I am grateful.
But I want to tell you all that we're just beginning, that I see
this as a unique moment in history. And this nation must
seize the moment. And it's this: either we defend
freedom, so that our children and grandchildren can grow up in a
peaceful world, or we blink. And if we blink, the rest of
the world will blink as well.
I don't believe we have that luxury. I believe we must
find terror wherever it hides, and bring it to justice. And
so the Afghan theater is the first theater in the war against
terror. And we've done a lot in a quick period of
time. I laid out a doctrine that said, if you harbor a
terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist, you're
just as guilty as the terrorists. And the Taliban found out
what I meant. Not only have we thrown them out, but in doing
so, we liberated. We liberated women and children from the
clutches of one of the most barbaric regimes in the history of
mankind. (Applause.)
I'm proud of our military. And for those of you who have
got a relative in the military, thank you. And I know you're
proud of that relative, as well. There's a lot of focus on
one individual in this war on terror. But this is much
bigger than one person. Oh, the guy, he can hide, and he can
run, but there's no cave deep enough for the arm of justice of the
American people. And it's just a matter of
time. I have no artificial date deadlines. I
really don't care if it's tomorrow or a month from now or a year or a
couple of years. But Mr. bin Laden is going to meet his
fate.
And in the meantime, the United States of America will continue to
rally our coalition, to continue to cut off money from terrorist
organizations, continue to share intelligence so we can react better,
continue to defend our homeland, and continue to insist that freedom
loving nations find, incarcerate and bring to justice anybody who would
harm America, our allies, and our friends. (Applause.)
There was some concern amongst some that the farther we got away
from the horrible day of September 11th, America would waver in our
determination. They don't need to be
concerned. We are determined, we are patient, we are tough,
we're compassionate. We will not yield to terror.
(Applause.)
There are a lot of challenges we face. We fight a
recession. I'm optimistic we'll recover. But one
of the big challenges is our health care system. I like to
put it this way: we face a huge challenge of making sure
that we're still the world's greatest health care
system. That's our challenge. How do we maintain
our edge? How do we make sure the American people get the
best health care in the world?
And it starts by making sure that we attract the best and brightest
to the medical profession. And that can start with the
President saying, thank you for dedicating your lives to such a great
calling. America appreciates the fact that you've chosen a
profession that is so profound, and so important. It's a
model of service and excellence. And the achievements of our
medical professionals set the standards for the entire world.
Life expectancy in America today is eight years longer than it was
in 1950, and 29 years longer than it was in 1900. That's a
lot of progress. And for millions, those extra years of life are more
active and more healthy than anybody could have
imagined. We're making great progress against many diseases,
such as breast cancer and colon cancer and childhood
leukemia. The death rate from coronary disease is down 40
percent since 1980. Our country leads the world in Nobel
Prizes for science and medicine, and in the invention of new drugs and
medical devices.
I truly believe that this progress is one of America's greatest
contributions to mankind. It is a tribute to the outstanding
efforts of the medical profession, and to a system of private medicine
that encourages innovation and rewards hard
work. (Applause.)
Yet our doctors and patients know that our system is far from
perfect. Too many patients feel trapped by the system, with decisions
about their health dictated by HMOs or government
bureaucracies. Too many doctors feel buried in
paperwork. I've heard it said that some doctors feel they
don't practice medicine, they practice insurance.
At the same time, health care costs are rising sharply, and many
people worry they won't be able to afford the treatments they
need. Some procedures are overused, often as defensive
measures to avoid litigation. And about 40 million Americans still
have no health insurance at all.
We must reform health care in America. We must build a
modern, innovative health care system that gives patients more options
and fewer orders, and strengthens the doctor-patient relationship.
Government has got to take an active role in reform. Yet
it's important that government's role is not to centralize; nor is
government's role to control the delivery of
medicine. (Applause.) Other nations have tried
this route, and it has led to long waits for treatment, low quality
care and lagging technologies. And for many patients, their
experience with centralized government-controlled medicine leads them
somewhere else -- often right here to America, where they can get the
treatment and care they need.
The role of government in health reform is to fix the system where
it's failing, while preserving the quality and innovation of a private,
patient-centered medical system. All reform should be guided
by some goals.
The first goal: all Americans should be able to choose a
health care plan that meets their needs at affordable
prices. When people have good choices, when people are
given different options, health plans have to compete for business --
which means higher quality and better coverage.
Most Americans get their health coverage at work. Yet
higher costs are causing some employers to cut back on benefits, or
insist that the employee pay more -- especially if they want to choose
their own doctor or to avoid the complications of managed
care. Many families end up in a health plan whose monthly
premium puts a strain on their budget -- and when they require care,
they find what they need really isn't fully covered.
So here's what I propose. I propose we give workers more
choice. I propose we reform the system to make the system
more individualized, by creating personal health
accounts. Instead of paying a large premium every month for
services you may not use, I believe we ought to have an account that
allows a person to pay a much smaller premium for major medical
coverage and then put the savings into a health account, tax free.
(Applause.)
The money is your money. It's your money in the health
account, not the government's money. And you can use it for
whatever health care need that arises. If you don't use it,
it's yours to keep. And the more affordable -- and for the
more affordable premium, you also get catastrophic care, protection in
case of serious illness. (Applause.)
The tendency for government is one-size-fits-all. If
part of reform is to restore the patient-doctor relation and to give
patients more choices, we have to change the tax system to -- and allow
for patients to make decisions that is in their best
interests. (Applause.)
I also propose to help workers get better and more affordable
choices in health plans at work. Now, some large companies
are -- you're okay, you've got some choice. But many small
businesses are unable to afford health insurance. And so --
and that's because there's not much purchasing power. A
stand-alone small business does not have purchasing power in the market
place. Either they can't afford to cover or they have to
allow their employees to settle on a high premium, high-dollar single
plan.
And so what I propose is that we ought to allow employers to pool
together -- through an industry association or perhaps the Chamber of
Commerce -- so that they can get the best deal for their workers, just
as large corporations are allowed to do. (Applause.)
Too many workers get no coverage at all through their
jobs. This is especially true among minorities, part-time
employees and seasonal workers. For those with limited means, my
budget will provide new credits to afford health coverage -- up to a
thousand dollars for an individual, or $3,000 for a family.
And they won't have to wait for tax time to get these health
credits. We'll make them immediately available for qualifying
families, giving them the help they need when they need
it. (Laughter.)
And at the same time, we'll work with our nation's governors to
create purchasing groups to negotiate with insurers for the people who
use these health credit. In other words, people who don't
have insurance must be given incentive to purchase insurance; the
states can help them pool, in order to get decent -- decent coverage;
but it's not a government program. In other words, we trust the
people. The government incents individuals to make decisions
in the market place. If the goal is to increase quality care
by encouraging individual choice and a doctor-patient relationship,
health credits is one way to help the uninsured do so.
I also strongly believe that the legislation that I proposed to
help unemployed workers makes a lot of sense. And it's
this: as soon as a person qualifies for unemployment
benefits, the government would cover 60 percent of the cost of
continuing their health care. That's a proper role for the
federal government. The role of the federal government is to
help people who have been unemployed, not only with benefits, but also
with their health care costs.
And the same principle of encouraging choice and helping people
help themselves must apply as well to two government-sponsored
programs, Medicaid and Medicare.
Medicaid and the S-CHIP program provide essential coverage for low
income families and seniors, and persons with
disabilities. These Americans also deserve more
choices. My budget gives states more flexibility to provide
better options in Medicaid and S-CHIP, and makes additional funds
available for states to improve the coverage.
And the Medicare program is a source of security and dignity for
tens of millions of our seniors. It is an incredibly
important commitment that our federal government has made. I
strongly support Medicare because it is so crucial in the lives of
older Americans. But I understand that Medicare is
antiquated. It has not kept pace with advances in
medicine. For instance, when Medicare was established in
1965, health care usually meant hospital care. Today we
understand how important it is to prevent people from getting sick in
the first place -- yet Medicare does not fully cover preventive
medicine.
In the past 37 years, many new medicines have arrived to replace
invasive treatments and surgeries. These drugs can be more
effective than surgery and are far less expensive. A serious
stomach ulcer, for instance, once required a lengthy stay in the
hospital and many thousands of dollars in medical
bills. Today, the ulcer can be cured with prescriptions
costing only hundreds of dollars. Yet Medicare would only
cover the surgery, not the prescription.
We must bring Medicare into the 21st century: to expand
its coverage, to improve its services, to strengthen its financing and
to give seniors more control over the health care they
receive. (Applause.) I think we're making
progress in Washington; progress toward convincing the Congress that
all wisdom doesn't exist in Washington bureaucracies when it comes to
health care for the elderly. We've got Republicans and
Democrats and an independent from the United States Senate working on
Medicare reform.
Seniors who are happy with the current system should be able to
keep the coverage just the way it is. In other words, if
there is a senior living in America who says, I love Medicare just the
way it is, nothing changes. And that's an important -- it's
important for a lot of Americans to hear that. But all
seniors should be offered different options, a range of options from
which to choose, in both the private sector and private markets, as
well as a better government plan with better Medigap options. And all
of these choices -- all of them -- however, must include prescription
drug coverage. (Applause.)
The second goal of reform is quality -- the ability for a patient
to get the best care from the doctor of our choice.
Managed care plans have done a lot to make health care more
affordable for many people. They can also unfairly deny
coverage, and step between doctor and patient. When such
basic rights are lost, they've got to be restored by
law. And that's why I urge Congress to get a patients' bill
of rights to my desk. (Applause.)
We're close to an agreement on this issue. I've given a
message to Congress: please send me a bill that protects all
patients, not just a fortunate few. Send me a bill with
comprehensive patient protections. No one should be charged
extra, for example, for simply visiting the nearest emergency
room. No one should have to run a bureaucratic gauntlet
before he or she can see a specialist. And if health plans
deny care, every patient should have the right to a prompt review by an
impartial panel of doctors.
Finally, we should be serving the interests of the patients, not
the self-interest of trial
lawyers. (Applause.) There will always be matters
that can and will be resolved in a courtroom. But with a
strong review process, most disagreements between patients and health
plans will end up in medical care, not in the courtroom.
Needless litigation does not -- needless litigation does incredible
harm to our health care system. It costs everyone time and
money -- especially patients who need care quickly -- and can destroy
the bond of trust between physician and patient. Frivolous
lawsuits drive up insurance premiums for everybody, and discourage
employers from offering employee coverage at all. It is
really important to remember that we want to help doctors to heal, not
encourage lawyers to sue. (Applause.)
And the hostile legal atmosphere that doctors face is adding to
costs and undermining the quality of health care in practical
ways. At some hospitals, for instance, doctors have worked
closely with one another to cut the rate of infection after surgery by
more than half. Yet when they discuss that information
openly, or put it on a paper for the benefit of others, they also put
themselves at risk of a lawsuit. We actually have a system
that penalizes doctors for trying to prevent errors and avoid
complications in patient care. And that doesn't make much
sense. These good faith efforts do not deserve the
punishment of a lawsuit and Congress needs to do something about
that. (Applause.)
When it helps patients, information must be broadly
shared. In the Medicare system, we're giving people more
information on the quality of nursing homes all across the country --
and we plan to do the same thing throughout the health care
system. Increased reliance on information technology will
not only lower costs, it also holds great promise for detection and
treatment and the development of new cures for disease.
Personal medical information, however, must always be strictly
confidential. A patient's right to privacy must be
protected, and we will enforce those protections.
My final goal in health care reform is to make sure government acts
where it should -- providing a strong health care safety net and
promoting research on the frontiers of science. The federal
government has accepted these responsibilities, and we must fulfill
them.
Many of the poor and uninsured, including legal immigrants, are
outside our system of health care entirely. Their
neighborhoods often have few health care professionals or
facilities. They have little or no access to preventive
care, and most treatment takes place in an expensive emergency room.
Around the country, more than 3,000 community health centers are
fighting these problems -- by giving immunizations, providing prenatal
care, and treating illness before they become medical
emergencies. I strongly support these community health
centers because they're compassionate -- (applause). They
are compassionate, they are cost effective, and America needs more of
them. And so I've set this goal: we need 1,200
more community health centers over the next five years to make sure our
government fulfills its commitment to the need. (Applause.)
The federal government has a large role in medical research, as you
well know here. And that role is now urgent. In
response to the threats facing our nation, we've committed more than $2
billion to develop new tests and new treatments for bioterror
weapons. (Applause.) This research is not only
important for the immediate, but it is likely to produce new insights
into the treatment of diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria,
HIV/AIDS. Our massive effort to ensure the safety of our
people will improve the health of our people.
The National Institutes of Health is one of the most successful
government undertakings in our history. The work of the NIH
has helped us defeat a long list of diseases and dangers to public
health. Now, as scientists begin to read the codes of life
itself, we are nearing incredible breakthroughs in the fight against
disease. We may, in our lifetime, lift from humanity the
curse of cancer.
This is a moment of great national challenge, and the work of the
NIH has become even more urgent and promising. I'm asking
Congress to give strong support to the NIH, and my budget achieves the
goal I set out when I sought the vote, and that is we will have doubled
the NIH goal at the end of the year 2003. (Applause.)
Science is -- on the very sources, is closing in on the sources of
sickness and disease. By 2010, scientists predict, genetic
tests will allow individuals to know if they are predisposed to certain
conditions. Within 20 years, targeted drug and gene therapies will be
available for diabetes and hypertension and other diseases.
As we pursue the promise of these projects, we must also be alert
to their dangers. Genetic information should be an
opportunity to prevent and treat disease, not an excuse for
discrimination. (Applause.) Just as we addressed
discrimination based on race, we must now prevent discrimination based
on genetic information. (Applause.)
There is another danger to guard against: the use of
genetic research to threaten the dignity of life itself. The
powers of science are morally neutral -- as easily used for bad
purposes as good ones. In the excitement of discovery, we
must never forget that mankind is developed -- is defined not by
intelligence alone, but by conscience. Even the most noble
ends do not justify every means. (Applause.) Life
itself is always to be valued and protected. In biomedical
research, we're dealing with the very makings of life -- and the law
must be firm and clear in restraining the reckless and protecting the
voiceless. (Applause.)
These are the goals of health care reform -- principles to make a
good system even better. We'll put our trust in the choices
of patients and the decisions of doctors -- the surest way to better
coverage and better care. We'll protect patients and doctors from
unfair treatment and unreasonable lawsuits. And government
will fulfill its unique responsibilities to provide a health care
safety net, and conduct the research that holds such great hope for all
of us.
With these reforms, new breakthroughs in medical research will
reach the patients who need them -- quickly and at the lowest cost
possible.
I believe America can achieve anything it sets its mind
to. I believe -- I don't believe, I know we're going to win
the war against terror. (Applause.) And I know if we honor
our professionals and honor our patients, and recognize the limited
role of government, if we trust Americans to make the right choices for
their lives, we'll have the health care system that remains the envy of
the world.
There's no doubt in my mind that with the right reforms, the right
philosophy, a philosophy of trust -- trust in people -- that America
will remain on the cutting edge of medicine. And as America
remains on the cutting edge of medicine, America will be the promised
land for all of us.
It is such an honor to be here. I want to thank the
youngsters who are going to be docs. I want to thank you for
your service. (Applause.) Give them an "A" for attending,
for sitting through this lecture. (Laughter.) But I do
appreciate it.
And I also appreciate your
professors. (Applause.) And I appreciate the
chance to come and share with my fellow citizens about the future of
health care in America.
May God bless you all. (Applause.)
END 3:25 P.M. CST
|