Shalala Appears to Put Timing of Health Reform Bill in Doubt

Donna Shalala, President-elect Bill Clinton’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, appeared to cast doubt Thursday on whether Clinton will deliver on his campaign promise to propose a health care reform bill within 100 days of his inauguration.

Shalala, in confirmation testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, said she and her colleagues from the White House Office of Management and Budget will “hit the ground running” to develop a plan for a new health care system. But she said there is no “timetable” yet for when a bill would be ready.

Frequently during his campaign, Clinton pledged to formulate a new national health care plan in the first 100 days of his Administration. The oft-repeated promise proved to be a deciding factor for many voters.

In a speech before the American Nurses Assn. last August, for example, he said: “In the first 100 days of our Administration, Al Gore and I will send to the United States Congress and attempt to pass a program that finally will bring America into line with the rest of the world with a plan for comprehensive, affordable health care for every citizen in this country as a right, not a privilege.” Clinton’s statements have been vague lately on his timetable for the legislation.

Although expressing uncertainty on how soon a bill would be ready, Shalala insisted under questioning from Sen. Donald W. Riegle Jr. (D-Mich.) that Clinton “has not backed down” from his pledge.

Riegle warned against too long a delay on health care reform, saying: “I think, if the Administration falls measurably behind that 100-day goal, you’re going to find . . . moving this issue through the House and the Senate and getting . . . health care reform enacted in 1993 is going to be very difficult.

“I don’t think we should kid ourselves about what will happen if we fall behind the time curve.”

Expressing admiration for Shalala’s abilities, however, Riegle said: “I think if anyone can march this team down the field against deadlines, you’re probably the person who can do it.”

In contrast to Riegle, Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Finance Committee’s subcommittee on Medicare and long-term care, cautioned that the new Administration should take its time drafting the bill.

“When it comes out, it has to be a bill that works,” he said.

Shalala, who had been expected to encounter some rough treatment from Republican senators, sailed through her confirmation hearing without a serious attack on her record or personal views. There had been some speculation that she would be pressed to explain her support for a ban against hate speech at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she is chancellor. The ban eventually was declared unconstitutional. The issue was never raised at the hearing, however.

Today, Shalala appears before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee.

Shalala, 51, has a reputation as a tough administrator and a workaholic. She has served as president of Hunter College in New York City and as an assistant secretary in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Jimmy Carter.

Without divulging specifics of her plans, she said her priorities in office would include strengthening the Head Start program for economically disadvantaged preschoolers, increasing immunizations of children and revamping the welfare system.

She also stressed the need for more aggressive AIDS research and declared the first four years of the Clinton Administration “years of the woman,” when priorities will be finding better treatments and cures for ovarian and cervical cancers, breast cancer, osteoporosis and other serious conditions that women face.