Skip to main content
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Digital Health
    • Transformation
    • ESG
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Blogs
    • AI
    • Deals
    • Layoff Tracker
    • HIMSS 2023
  • Opinion
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • 40 Under 40
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women Leaders
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Looking Ahead to 2024
    • - AI and Digital Health
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
  • Data & Insights
    • Data & Insights Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • Newsletters
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Insurance
February 28, 2014 11:00 PM

Archive documents show Clinton healthcare strategy

Associated Press
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More

    Former President Bill Clinton's aides were concerned early in his presidency about the failed healthcare overhaul effort, led by his wife, and a need to "soften" the image of Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to documents released Friday. Mrs. Clinton now is a potential 2016 presidential contender.

    The National Archives released about 4,000 pages of previously confidential documents involving the Clinton administration, providing a glimpse into the struggles of his health care task force, led by the first lady, and other priorities such as the U.S. economy and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

    Hillary Clinton's potential White House campaign has increased interest in Clinton Presidential Library documents from her husband's administration during the 1990s and her own decades in public service. A former New York senator and secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton is the leading Democratic contender to succeed President Barack Obama, though she has not said whether she will run.

    Friday's documents release included memos related to the former president's ill-fated health care reform proposal in 1993 and 1994, a plan that failed to win support in a Congress controlled by Democrats and turned into a rallying cry for Republicans who swept to power in both the Senate and House of Representatives in the 1994 midterm elections. As first lady, Hillary Clinton chaired her husband's healthcare task force, largely meeting in secret to develop a plan to provide universal health insurance coverage.

    White House aides expressed initial optimism about her ability to help craft and enact a major overhaul of U.S. healthcare.

    "The first lady's months of meetings with the Congress has produced a significant amount of trust and confidence by the members in her ability to help produce a viable health reform legislative product with the president," said an undated and unsigned document, which was cataloged with others from April 1993. The document urged quick action, warning that enthusiasm for health reform "will fade over time."

    But the documents also showed the growing concerns among Clinton's fellow Democrats in Congress. Lawmakers, it said, "going to their home districts for the August break are petrified about having difficult health care reform issues/questions thrown at them."

    Obama and his fellow Democrats finally passed a major healthcare overhaul in early 2010, with support from the Clintons. Unlike the Clinton-era effort, the reform signed into law by Obama, known as Obamacare, carried a mandate that all Americans must obtain health insurance or pay a fine.

    The new documents showed that Mrs. Clinton was doubtful that a health care law with a universal mandate — requiring people to carry health insurance — would be approved. "That is politically and substantively a much harder sell than the one we've got — a much harder sell," she told congressional Democrats in September 1993.

    In 2007, when she ran for president, Clinton made the mandate a centerpiece of her "American Health Choices Plan," requiring health coverage while offering federal subsidies to help reduce the cost to purchasers. Obamacare also provides federal subsidies.

    By September 1993, Mrs. Clinton acknowledged the obstacles in a meeting with House and Senate Democratic leaders and committee chairs. "I think that, unfortunately, in the glare of the public political process, we may not have as much time as we need for that kind of thoughtful reflection and research," the first lady said, citing "this period of challenge."

    The documents also include detailed media strategy memos written as aides tried to soften Mrs. Clinton's image.

    Her press secretary, Lisa Caputo, encouraged the Clintons to capitalize on their 20th wedding anniversary as "a wonderful opportunity for Hillary" and also suggested she spend more time doing White House events celebrating first ladies of the past.

    Placing Clinton in a historical context "may help to round out her image and make what she is doing seem less extreme or different in the eyes of the media," Caputo wrote in a lengthy August 1995 memo about courting better press coverage as the president looked toward re-election.

    Other documents offered a glimpse into the juggling of priorities early in Clinton's first term.

    Following the midterm losses, Clinton policy adviser William Galston wrote in January 1995, before the president's State of the Union address, that the public had "not given up on the Clinton presidency." But he warned the annual speech before Congress "may well be our last chance for a very long time to command the attention of the people as a whole. We cannot hold anything back."

    The new documents offer only glimmers of Clinton's internal national security deliberations. The most detailed material, contained in files from then-national security speechwriter Paul Orzulak, show top Clinton officials wrestling with how to deal with China's emergence as a world financial power.

    Notes from an undated meeting with National Security Adviser Samuel "Sandy" Berger show Berger pushing for China's membership in the World Trade Organization despite concerns about human rights abuses.

    A series of emails pertaining to the Sept. 11 Commission's research into Clinton-era handling of al-Qaida attacks were all apparently withheld by Archives officials, citing national security and confidential restrictions.

    As for Clinton himself, by the end of his presidency he showed frustration with his proposed farewell speech to the nation. He told aides that he didn't think the drafts included enough of his administration's accomplishments.

    "Doesn't anybody care about me?" he asked aides during his final days in office.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    UnitedHealth_Group_AP_fullsize_i_i_i copy_i.png
    Executives detail UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health's growth plans
    cigna-headquarters-AP_954324192665-web_i_i.jpg
    Cigna Medicare Advantage future murky amid sale speculation
    Most Popular
    1
    Executives detail UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health's growth plans
    2
    Investors see opportunity in high-needs Medicaid market
    3
    Cigna, Humana in talks for merger this year: WSJ
    4
    Cigna Medicare Advantage future murky amid sale speculation
    5
    Teladoc CEO tamps down expectations of GLP-1s
    Sponsored Content
    Daily Finance Newsletter: Sign up to receive daily news and data that has a direct impact on the business and financing of healthcare.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Help Center
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Digital Health
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • ESG
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Blogs
      • AI
      • Deals
      • Layoff Tracker
      • HIMSS 2023
    • Opinion
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • 40 Under 40
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women Leaders
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Looking Ahead to 2024
        • - AI and Digital Health
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
      • Sponsored Video Series - Checking In with Dan Peres
    • Data & Insights
      • Data & Insights Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • Newsletters
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing