-., - 2A - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, January 7, 1998 NATION/WORLD Clinton unveils Medicare expansion plan The Washington Post WASHINGTON - President Clinton yesterday pro- posed the largest expansion of Medicare in a quarter century, offering early retirees at age 62 and displaced workers as young as 55 the opportunity to buy coverage under the government's health care program for the elderly. The plan, which must be approved by Congress, is designed to make health insurance available to millions of potential retirees age 62 up to 65 and another 700,000 dislocated workers 55 and older who either can't afford or lack access to comprehensive health care. In order to receive the Medicare benefits, the early retirees would be required to pay a premium of rough- ly $300 a month, and for those who involuntarily lose their jobs the tab would be $400. In part because of the costs, the administration estimates that only about 300,000 of the millions who would be eligible will actu- ally take advantage of the offer. A separate component of the proposal would target people who retired early but were left uninsured when employers reneged on promises to provide them health insurance. This group would be offered the opportunity to buy insurance from their former employers until they are old enough to qualify for Medicare. According to administration officials and others, the initiative is designed to reach a group of Americans twice as likely to have health problems as others, and that ranks second only to children in the percentage who lack insurance. Clinton's Medicare proposal is part of a broader plan to rein- vigorate his domestic agenda with new initiatives in the budget he will present to Congress next month. At the White House today, Clinton will propose tax credits to help working parents pay for child care; the proposals would cost about $20 billion over five years, administration officials said. Prominent Republicans and many business leaders immediately criticized the Medicare initiative as fis- cally imprudent at a time when the long-term solven- I - cy of the entire Medicare system is in jeopardy. "It makes no sense to expand this entitlement pro- gram," said Neil Trautwein, manager of health care pol- icy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, "when there are substantial threats on the table to both Medicare and Social Security" as a result of the coming retirement of the baby boom generation. "When your mother is on the Titanic and it's sink- ing, your first preoccupation ought not to be getting more people on the Titanic' said Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) chair of the Finance Committee's subcom- mittee on health. But the more circumspect response of Senate Finance Committee Chair William Roth Jr. (R-Del.) suggested that the political popularity of the plan in an election year may make it difficult for the Republicans to dismiss it out of hand. Roth said only that Clinton had highlighted an important health care issue and that he is eager to see more details. president examines U.S. poicNy Los Angeles Times CAIRO, Egypt - Conservative Iranian newspapers have fiercely criti- L cized the idea and this country's Ysupreme leader has ruled it out. So the question remains: Will Iran's new pres- ident, Mohammad Khatami, dare to try to build a bridge to the United States? *The answer should come tonight when Khatami, in a televised interview with the Cable News Network, launch- es what he has promised will be a "thoughtful dialogue" with "the great American people." So far, Western officials and analysts have been caught by surprise by his friendly tone and confident moves in five months in office to break down two decades of official hostility toward the United States-- the country long stigmatized by ran's theocratic leader- ship as the "Global Arrogance" and "Great Satan" But Khatami's steps have provoked resistance from hard-liners in the Iranian regime, most notablyfrom Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader who delivered a rare Friday ser- mon last week in which he sharply dis- missed any suggestionfthat U.S.-Iranian relations are on the mend. Conservatives in Iran have never liked Khatami and in recent days they have stepped up their criticism of any change in policy toward the United States. Over the airwaves, at mosques and in newspapers they have declared that America remains Iran's No. enemy and that any talk of rapproche- ment is a fantasy. "Any hands that reach out to America should be cut off said the hard-line paper Jomhuri Isami. But the strident anti-US. campaign only seems to underscore that the very question of repairing relations with the United States - a topic once taboo even for discussion in Iran - has now entered the mainstream of political debate. Iranian political historian Sadiq Zibakalam, interviewed by telephone yesterday from Tehran, said he foresees "a very carefully balanced speech" from Khatami. "He is under a lot of pressure from supporters and oppo- nents of the rapprochement," the ana- lyst noted. Khatami's talk will be along the lines of, "We have no quarrel with the American people and also that the American government is the repre- sentative of the American people," Zibakalam predicted. "But he will also press the Iranian point of view and will call on the U.S. to shift the hard-line positions of the American government against the Islamic republic." And unless the Clinton administra- tion responds with "tangible and realis- tic signals," it will be difficult for Khatami to overcome the barriers and difficulties to improve relations, he said. So far, there is rising interest in Iran over what Khatami will say. The English-language Tehran Times, which has opposed any softening toward Washington, said yesterday that inter- views with a cross-section of Iranians showed that most believe "the time is not ripe" to resume formal ties with. America. The paper also quoted critics. "Resumption of ties with America is a defeat for Iran and would disap- point Muslims across the world," said parliamentary deputy Hemmat Beig-Moradi. Any such move would to-AROUND TE TIQ Latest figures change budget debate WASHINGTON - White House officials said yesterday that the latest num- bers from the Treasury Department and the Health Care Financing Administration will help President Clinton balance the federal budget years ahead of the planned 2002 deadline. Treasury's tax collections were markedly higher than forecast; spending on Medicare, the government's single-largest program, was lower. On Monday, Clinton declared that the budget he will propose to Congress early next month will have the federal government spending no more money than it col- lects for the first time in three decades. Just as important, various officials said yesterday, was Clinton's determination that - for the first time since Republicans took control of Congress three years ago - he would go first in proposing deficit reduction. Administration officials described the choice as an easy one, coming at the start of an election year that may revolve around who deserves credit for taming the deficit. As political strategy, Clinton's decision - largely supported by Republicans - also won praise yesterday from both the moderate and more liberal wings of his own party. Even before Clinton decided to endorse a balanced budget in fiscal year 199, he was scheduled to announce new figures showing a far-lower deficit for the cur- rent fiscal year. Davidow to be next U.S. ambassador WASHINGTON - Veteran diplo- mat Jeffrey Davidow apparently is the Clinton administration's choice to be the next U.S. ambassador to Mexico, according to a published report. Davidow, now assistant secretary of state for Latin America, was named in an "action memo" sent to President Clinton for final approval, The Washington Post said in a story in yes- terdays' editions attributed to unidenti- fied senior administration officials. Davidow, a career diplomat who for- merly served as ambassador to Zambia and Venezuela, had steered a reporter away from his possible nomination when questioned last week. The United States has not had an ambassador to Mexico since former Oklahoma Rep. Jim Jones left the post in June. Clinton's first nominee to fill the vacancy was former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican. However, Sen. Jesse Helms, (R-N.C.) the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, blocked a Senate vote on the nomination by refusing to hold a committee hearing to vote on Weld's nomination. U.S. scientist plans human cloning CHICAGO - A Chicago scientist says he has assembled a team of doctors that is prepared to clone a human being before Congress has a chance to ban the procedure, and that eight people have already volunteered to be cloned. The scientist, G. Richard Seed, is PhD physicist who has been involv in various kinds of fertility research since the early 1970s but currently has no university or research laboratory affiliation. Several people familiar with Seed said that he. is known for his eccentric views and doubted he would follow through with his plan. But oth- ers said Seed has the technical and entrepreneurial expertise - and philo- sophical commitment to radical scier. - to accomplish the feat. .W AROUNDTHE W T Hundreds killed in Algerian attack ALGIERS, Algeria - Carrying mat- tresses on their backs, terrified villagers fled their homes yesterday, flooding big- city public squares to seek a safe haven from the vicious attacks that have killed more than 1,200 people in a week. Shocked by Algeria's incessant bloodshed, European and U.S. diplo- mats insisted they wanted to help - but said they were essentially powerless to end the killing spree. "There seems to be very little one can do in concrete terms," said Klaus van der Pas, chief spokesperson for the European Commission. Late yesterday, survivors reported another slaughter - 200 people killed in a weekend massacre in a remote western village - bringing the total killed since Saturday to nearly 400. "The bodies were mutilated, and many disfigured by axes;' said one survivor of the Sunday night massacre in Chekala, which has no telephones and is reachable only by narrow mountain roads. The man, who earlier yesterday had buried fellow villagers, was one of about 100 villagers who fled and took refuge in a mosque or in stores Meknassa, a nearby community wh another 117 people were killed Sunday night. S. Korean campaign draws support SEOUL, South Korea Answering a call to help their coun- try, tens of thousands of So Koreans swarmed into banks yest day to sell or donate gold in a nation- wide campaign to raise badly needed dollars. The Korea Housing and Commercial Bank and state television KBS launched the monthlong gold-drive to help the country repay $57 billion owed to the International Monetary Fund in emergency rescue funds. On the first day, Monday, more than 45,000 people turned in 7,300 pounds gold - 8.8 pounds .of it donated - worth a total of $33 million. - Compiledfrom Daily wire reports. The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. Subscriptions for fall term, starting in September, via U.S. mail are $85. Winter term (January through April) is $95, yearlong (September through April) is $165. On-campus su scriptions for fall term are $35. Subscriptions must be prepaid. The Michigan Daily is a member of the Associated Press and the Associated Collegiate Press. ADDRESS: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard St.. Ann Arbor. Michigan 48109-1327. 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