One president referred to “bending the cost curve” and the “aggregation of risk taking.” He then referred to the man sitting beside him, who he called “Mr. President,” who then described the virtues of the health care system, in yes, the Netherlands.
Looking to rally support behind “Obamacare,” the past and present Democratic presidents discussed the law on stage together at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. The appearance was the latest sign that the once tense relationship between President Obama and former President Clinton has turned into a successful political marriage that includes a great past (Obama administration officials praise Clinton’s Democratic National Convention speech last year as a key moment in the president’s reelection), a strong present (Clinton is helping the administration explain the new health law to a wary public) and a potentially historic future (both men are likely to be vocal supporters of Hillary Clinton if she runs for president in 2016.)
And the two presidents, much different men in style and manner, illustrated one similarity: an appreciation for the details of public policy. Their 50-minute conversation, for people not versed in the details of “Obamacare,” was not simple to follow. Clinton, the sponsor of the event, asked questions that were often preceded by long policy discourses. And even more details and jargon came in Obama’s answers.
“Because of these changes we initiated in terms of how we’re paying providers, health care costs have grown, as you pointed out, Mr. President, at the slowest rate in 50 years. We are bending the cost curve and getting at the problems that are creating our deficits in Medicare and Medicaid,” Obama said, concluding a several-minutes-long reply to Clinton’s question of “What are you going to do on October 1st?”
Then, the former president spoke.
“When we began this in the United States, more than 80 percent of the American states had only one or two companies providing health insurance who had more than 80 percent of the market. So there was, in effect, no price competition. So what I was terrified of was we’d open these things and there would only be one company [that would] show up and bid, and this whole thing, we’d be having an academic conversation. Instead, it’s actually led to the establishment of more companies doing more bidding,” Clinton said.
Obama spoke of the more efficient health care systems of Canada, France, Great Britain, and Japan; Clinton added in Germany and the Netherlands.
It was left to Hillary Clinton, who introduced the two presidents, to add a lighter touch to the event.
“I thought hard about how to introduce these two men,” she said. “And the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much they have in common. They are both left-handed. They both love golf, a game that does not often reciprocate the love they put into it. They both are fanatic sports fans and go to great lengths to be in front of the TV or on the side of the court or the field. They both are master politicians. Each of them has only lost one election. They are both Democrats. They have fabulous daughters. They each married far above themselves. And they each love our country.”