To pay for universal health coverage, the Clinton administration wants new taxes on cigarettes and possibly hard liquor. That’s a big relief to the doctors, hospitals and insurance companies that were all at one time or another prospective targets for big tax hits. A value-added sales tax was also briefly considered.
The White House denies it, but doctors, hospitals and drug makers strongly suspect that the administration toyed with the idea of direct price policing. To back up their claim they point out that, in the current plan, price caps fall on insurance premiums.
