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REMARKS BY:	DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
PLACE:		White House Health Care Event, Washington, D.C.
DATE:		September 8, 1999

"A Bold Agenda"

President Clinton, Surgeon General Satcher, Director LaChance, Dr. Copeland, Ms. Copeland, distinguished guests. Earlier this week on Labor Day our nation celebrated America's unique commitment to an idea called the work ethic -- and the fact that, by rolling up our sleeves and joining together, Americans have now built the strongest economy in a generation.

In many respects, I think that same work ethic is what's also guided our Administration's approach to health care. Over these past six and a half years we've rolled up our sleeves.

We've worked hard. And we've built strong partnerships -- here in Washington and throughout this country -- and, as a result, millions of American families today are living healthier lives.

Just consider some of what President Clinton and Vice President Gore have accomplished. Childhood immunization rates are now at an all time high - with 90 percent or more of America's toddlers receiving the most critical doses by age two.

We've expanded Head Start and launched Early Head Start. We've never forgotten that, for some children, walking through the door to Head Start and Early Head Start means entering the public health system for the first time ever.

And it was this President who led the bipartisan effort to insure millions of kids through CHIP: our Children's Health Insurance Program.

We've seen drug use among teens stabilize,. . . new breakthroughs in the treatment of breast cancer and HIV/AIDS. . . and overall death rates from cancer decline - though still not enough.

We've also set a goal of eliminating racial health disparities in six major areas within ten years. Of course, this is all good news. But let me tell you what I'm most proud of: this Administration has never - and will never - break, or allow others to break, the promise of quality health care for older Americans.

We've protected Medicare - by balancing the budget, adding more choices and cracking down hard on waste, fraud and abuse. And, by rolling up our sleeves and working together, we've even extended the solvency of Medicare until the year 2015.

Sure, it's a record we're proud of. But it's not one to rest on. Instead, it's a record to build on. That's why we've reached out to this Congress to join with us to strengthen and modernize Medicare. That's why we've reached out and urged them to join with us to craft a real Patients' Bill of Rights. That's why we've called on them to expand access to Medicaid and Medicare for working people with disabilities. And that's why we've invited them to roll up their sleeves and work together with us to protect the privacy of every American's medical records.

Is it a bold agenda? You bet it is. But ask America's families and they'll tell you it's an agenda that simply can't wait.

Just ask physicians like Dr. Lanny Copeland. Lanny Copeland could have stepped right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. He's a family doctor who grew up in the small town of Cross Plains, Indiana. Dr. Copeland admired and went on to emulate his own childhood physician - practicing family medicine in rural Georgia, teaching and eventually becoming President of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Dr. Copeland has brought a family doctor's perspective to the one place where it's needed the most - the fight for better health care for all Americans.

Dr. Copeland . . .

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