To the Editor:

President Bill Clinton’s 1993 Health Care Plan was an excellent approach to addressing the nation’s health care issues. Under President Clinton’s leadership, the plan was fundamentally formulated to be a public and private sector partnership path to universal coverage. Using targeted government investments, the plan would augment private sector insurance in order to drive down medical cost and increase health insurance coverage to Americans without insurance.
This balanced approach was blocked by Republicans and the insurance industry. The Republicans countered with a plan touting tax deductions, vouchers to buy health insurance and an individual mandate. This requires that everyone is to buy insurance. The Republicans despised the mandate in President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act, however the individual mandate was a key component in the 1993 Republicans’ health plan which was used to derail President Clinton’s health care plan.
A cause should be championed because it is rooted in integrity and principles. A cause shouldn’t be demonized and smeared for political gain based on who sponsors it. The Republicans should ask themselves, are we about integrity and principles or are we about demonization and smearing? I sincerely hope the former, because a healthy democracy has little use for hypocrisy.

Mrs. Robert F. Jackson, Sr.
Madison
Via e-mail

Printed in the September 6. 2012 edition.