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Politics

Daschle Wants to Make History on Health Care

Daschle Wants to Make History on Health Care
Former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle told a convention of health insurance executives in San Diego that health care history will soon be made.

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle told a convention of health insurance executives in San Diego that health care history will soon be made.

The Association of Health Insurance Plans, called AHIP, met at the San Diego convention center. And their closing speaker was Tom Daschle, who told the convention the time had come for health care reform. But it will require a radically new model. He used the metaphor of a health care pyramid, with basic needs at the broad bottom and highly technical and expensive services at the top.

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"Every society starts at the base of the pyramid and works it's way to the top until the money runs out," Daschle said. "But we start at the top of the pyramid and work our way down, until the money runs out. And the money runs out for all too many Americans."

Daschle avoided taking a position on the controversial proposal that the federal government should offer a national insurance plan to compete with private plans.