Pluk: The 1993 Clinton plan, as Hillary Clinton has acknowledged, would have set up big purchasing alliances (known as HIPCs) that everyone would have had to be a part of. There would have been options within that system, but everyone would have been in a new kind of system. She herself says that was the big mistake she made, politically. That's why, this time around, she stressed that her plan would let people who currently have coverage keep EXACTLY the coverage they have, if they like it.

um, Karen, this is so deceptive as to be false.

The 1993 Clinton plan did not force anyone to give up coverage. What it did do was force employers to provide at minimum, an "affordable" managed/care/HMO type of plan -- and set standards for what constituted "health insurance".

In other words, if you were getting ripped off by a company that claimed to be providing health insurance, but wouldn't cover most costs, and you didn't know you were getting ripped off ("satisfied with your coverage") yes, you'd have to switch. But the only people who would have to switch were those who were enrolled in really crappy programs anyway....

Imho, in the recent unpleasantness KT almost singlehandedly corrected the historical image of Time. You may recall the old line that Luce's major accomplishment was the creation of two magazines: Life, for those who couldn't read, and Time, for those who couldn't think.

Actually, Dee, I don't hang onto ALL of them, and have no system for knowing what's actually IN most of the ones I do keep. But I knew where that one was. It was a really enlightening trip. Plus, when we had to fly in a tiny plane at one point, Daschle flew it himself. I later found out that was sort of his hazing ritual for reporters from DC who came to SD. He seemed to love the horrified look on their faces when he got in the pilot's seat.