Clinton Signs Hospital-Stay Bill

Declaring an end to “drive-through deliveries,” President Clinton signed a bill Thursday ensuring two-day hospital stays for new mothers and their babies.

The law also bars insurers from setting separate coverage limits for mental and physical illnesses.

“This law is common sense, and now it is the law of the land,” Clinton said in a Rose Garden ceremony attended by families whose stories helped spur Congress to act.

The new law also ensures that children of Vietnam veterans born with the birth defect spina bifida can get medical care and rehabilitative training through the Veterans Administration. Research has shown a link between spina bifida and exposure to Agent Orange, a chemical used in the Vietnam War.

Insurance-related provisions of the new law, which take effect Jan. 1, 1998, are part of a broader $84.7 billion appropriations bill for 1997 housing, environmental, space and veterans’ programs.