Health Plan to Cover Work, Auto Injuries

The Clinton Administration intends to fold the cost of treating injuries from workplace and automobile accidents into health insurance coverage, Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday.

Although some advisers to the task force drafting the Clinton health care plan had raised that possibility, Mrs. Clinton’s comments were the firmest indication yet that it would be done.

Her brief remarks to reporters came after she sought to convince tax-wary corporate chief executives that the Administration’s proposal will save them money in the long run.

Even small businesses, which would be forced to contribute to health care coverage for the first time, will save money because the medical portion of workers compensation and auto insurance eventually will be included in the comprehensive health care proposal, she said.

Mrs. Clinton, who heads the task force, spent more than an hour behind closed doors with the Business Council, composed of chief executives of the nation’s largest corporations.

“We believe, based on everything we know, that for the vast majority of businesses health care reform will be a net winner. Their costs will stabilize and go down,” she said.

Before Mrs. Clinton’s address, Business Council members seemed deeply worried that the Clinton health plan would contain more new business taxes than cost containment. But afterward, many seemed willing to give her the benefit of the doubt until the Administration unveils the plan.