First Lady Blasts Health Care Crisis Naysayers in D.C.

Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday criticized politicians who say there is no health care crisis in America, calling them Washington insiders who have no health care worries themselves.

Mrs. Clinton said she met living proof of a crisis earlier in the day: Pamala Hinkley, a 34-year-old pregnant woman who said she is considering going without an anesthetic when she gives birth because it would cost $1,200.

The mother of four told Mrs. Clinton that in her last delivery she had two such epidural injections. She needed them, she said, because she gives birth to 10-pound babies.

“I’ll tell you, the people in Washington who are saying there is no health care crisis, their wives don’t have to worry about whether they can afford an epidural,” Mrs. Clinton said after meeting Hinkley and her husband during a tour of University Medical Center.

After the tour, Mrs. Clinton told Hinkley’s story to an invited group of doctors, government officials and heads of local associations at a health care forum at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

She said lawmakers who criticize President Clinton’s health plan have terrific coverage themselves, thanks to their employer, the federal government. And she noted that the government’s plan is much like what Clinton is proposing.

“It seems to me, if it’s good enough for the folks who live in Washington, it’s good enough for the folks who live in Las Vegas,” Mrs. Clinton said.