The Tribune’s lead story Dec. 11 was misleading in saying in the first sentence, “The Clinton … health-care plan seems to be producing payoffs even before it has been enacted.” This was based on the report that consumer medical prices rose 5.5 percent so far this year.
Nowhere in the article was it pointed out that consumer medical price increases have been decreasing from the peak of 9.6 percent in 1990 to 7.9 percent in 1991 to 6.6 percent in 1992, all well before Clinton was even elected. In fact, these continuing reductions in the rate of increase are due solely to the private sector’s efforts to control its own medical costs through managed care and a variety of other techniques.
It takes months and even a year or more for employers to realize the price reductions from their health-care containment actions.
It would be unlikely, at best, if the Clinton health-care plan, which was only released in September, could have had any more than a minuscule effect on the November price index.
