--- title: Bill Clinton Wades Into the Democratic Party's Health Care Debate description: Former President Bill Clinton waded into the debate, saying the nation is "at a crossroads" on health care at the TIME 100 Health Summit canonical: https://time.com/5703769/bill-clinton-time-100-health-summit-healthcare/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-10-17T19:35:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:42:20.237Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bill Clinton Wades Into the Democratic Party's Health Care Debate og:description: Former President Bill Clinton waded into the debate, saying the nation is "at a crossroads" on health care at the TIME 100 Health Summit og:url: https://time.com/5703769/bill-clinton-time-100-health-summit-healthcare/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt301a8b96403c9550/698a047722fb851536e2a01f/time-100-health-summit-060.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: TIME 100 Health Summit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill Clinton Wades Into the Democratic Party's Health Care Debate twitter:description: Former President Bill Clinton waded into the debate, saying the nation is "at a crossroads" on health care at the TIME 100 Health Summit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt301a8b96403c9550/698a047722fb851536e2a01f/time-100-health-summit-060.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'We Should Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit First.' 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=a7bacfff-7422-4f6d-a424-dcbf2fb3c9c7&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Presidential Perspective : Bill Clinton (Interviewed by Dr. David Agus) [Watch (HLS stream): A Presidential Perspective : Bill Clinton (Interviewed by Dr. David Agus)](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YVACz0xN.m3u8) (33:16)  _Published 2019-10-17. A Presidential Perspective : Bill Clinton (Interviewed by Dr. David Agus)_  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 17, 2019 7:35 PM UTC  Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks onstage during the TIME 100 Health Summit at Pier 17 in New York City on Oct. 17, 2019. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton speaks onstage during the TIME 100 Health Summit at Pier 17 in New York City on Oct. 17, 2019. Brian Ach—Getty Images for TIME 100 Health  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Oct 17, 2019 7:35 PM UTC Amid widening divisions in the Democratic Party over the future of health care policy, former President Bill Clinton waded into the debate, saying the nation is “at a crossroads” on health care reform and “we should pick the low hanging fruit first.” “The problem is the system is still entirely too complex,” Clinton told told David Agus, CEO of the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine of USC, at the [TIME 100 Health Summit](https://time.com/health-summit/) in New York City on Thursday. “The premiums are going up way more than wages are going up, and the co-pays and deductibles and the drug prices are going up even more than the premiums. So, we’re kind of at a crossroads now.” “We should pick the low-hanging fruit first,” Clinton continued. “I think we need to pass a public option and go back to encouraging all-payer systems in states so that you can have some control over the costs and keep it as simple as possible.” Clinton’s appearance at the summit occurred just two days after 12 Democratic presidential candidates took the stage for a [primary debate in Ohio](https://time.com/5701777/democratic-debate-recap-takeaways/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=the-brief&utm%5Fcontent=20191016&xid=newsletter-brief). Some Democrats running for president in 2020 have supported a single-payer system, would provide universal healthcare in a national government-funded program. The Medicare-for-All proposal put forth by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is a single-payer proposal. “The great appeal for the single-payer system is it’s universal and it’s simple,” Clinton said on Thursday.  Former U.S. President Bill Clinton (L) speaks with CEO of the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative.Medicine of USC and TIME 100 Health Summit Co-Chair, Dr. David Agus, onstage during the TIME 100 Health Summit at Pier 17 in New York City on Oct. 17, 2019. Brian Ach—Getty Images for TIME 100 Health The 42nd president spoke briefly about the 2020 election, saying that he’s “optimistic” for the country’s future but noting displeasure at some of the events that transpired in 2016 when Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton. “I think in this next election we’re going to have fair coverage,” Clinton said. “I don’t think they’ll be the kind of unbelievable interference there was in America by the leader of the FBI. I think Vladimir Putin will try to change the election, but he’d have to steal a lot more votes this time. And I don’t think you can without getting caught, I hope.” Over the course of the wide-ranging conversation, Clinton also spoke about his personal health journey. He said he weighs three pounds less now at age 73 than he did in high school, though he joked that the weight is “slightly differently distributed.” He was wearing a Fitbit onstage and said he wears one every day, and is partial to the Fitbit over the Apple Watch because it costs less. He said the anti-vaxxer movement is “crazy” and recalled the “look of relief” on his mother’s face when he got the polio vaccine. When asked what he would change about his health-related behaviors in his 20s, 30s and 40s, the former President laughed. “I’d eat a lot less fried foods,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5703769/bill-clinton-time-100-health-summit-healthcare/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5703769/bill-clinton-time-100-health-summit-healthcare/"},"headline":"'We Should Pick the Low-Hanging Fruit First.' 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