Clinton "Will Have Another Shot At Health"

If re-elected, US President Clinton might "take another shot at a government takeover of health care," says Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole. On the third anniversary of a speech in which the President said the government should be in charge of health care, Mr Dole said that, with the election round the corner, Pres Clinton will do everything he can to hide his liberal agenda.

The 1993 Clinton health care plan, which died in Congress without coming to a vote in either chamber, "gave the federal government a role in nearly every health care decision currently made by you and your doctor," said Mr Dole, and there are hints that, if re-elected, the President might "take another shot" at it. The failed health care plan was Pres Clinton's "defining moment," he said, and was the kind of massive government expansion that has not been seen in three decades. Mr Dole also took credit for the recently-signed more modest portability bill, saying he preferred giving the people more control over the system, by making it more affordable and more accessible, to giving the government control over health care.

Meantime, Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp praised the US health system, and said it would get even better were Mr Dole elected. More public-private partnerships with free choices of medical facilities and doctors are needed, not a government takeover, he said.