The White House found room in its revised health-care reform plan for an extra checkup for teenagers but wants some mentally ill people to pay up to half the costs of outpatient psychiatric care.
The revised Health Security Act, finally introduced over the weekend, also would keep Medicare under tight budget constraints after the turn of the century.The White House and Democratic leaders rounded up 100 co-sponsors in the House and 31 in the Senate for Clinton's proposal to guarantee health coverage for all Americans by 1998. Vermont Sen. James M. Jeffords was the lone Republican among them.
Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell said Sunday that Congress will face a choice next year between enacting "a modified version of the president's bill" or doing nothing.
But Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole said any viable plan will be "far different" from Clinton's proposal for an employer mandate, premium caps and mandatory health alliances. He said Congress should at least pass the reforms that the Clinton and rival plans have in common.
"We have to figure out who wins, who loses and who pays for it and how," said Dole.
Clinton's massive bill was introduced without fanfare late Saturday as Congress rushed to finish business before adjourning for the year.