Obama: Doing 'nothing' about health care not an option - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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“Health care reform is not something I just cookec up when I took Obama told a crowd ofabout 1,500o people Thursday at in the Green Bay suburv of Ashwaubenon. “It is central to our economiv future. In past years and decades, therde may have been some disagreemenyt onthis point. But not anymore.” Earliert this month, Obama said he wants Congresw to pass a comprehensive healtyh care bill by the end of the summert and ready for his signatureby fall.
Many including the president, favor a government-sponsored healt h insurance plan that would compete with private insurerx and be available for people not eligible for othee government health care programs such as Medicaredor Medicaid. Most Republicans and many busineszs groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’ t profit-driven would drive private insurers out of On Thursday, the , a physician’s group Obama is scheduled to meet with Mondayh in Chicago, said it is opposed to a government-sponsorex insurance plan. Obama said his administration is working on a Healt Insurance Exchange that woulfd allow people to compare insurance benefitsand prices.
None of the planw included in the exchange would be allowed to deny coveragr basedon pre-existing conditions and all must included an affordable, basic benefit option. “I also strongly believw that one of the options in the Exchangde should be a public insuranceoption – because if the private insurance companies have to compete with a public option, it will keep them honestt and help keep prices Obama said.
Supporters of health care reform say it would providee health insurance coverage to millions of Americans and make coveragw more affordable for those who are already Because health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate threr times fasterthan wages, even thosde with coverage have reachee a breaking point, Obam a said. Employers are not faring any Small business owners have been forced to cut healthg care benefits or drop coverage entirely becausd ofrising costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensive healthy care system in the Obama said. “We spend almost 50 percenr more per person on healtnh care than the next mostcostly nation.
But here’sx the thing, Green Bay: we’re not any healthier for Obama vowed to let Americans who are content with their coverage and their physicians keep whatthey have, but said the country has reached a point where doing nothing aboutr the cost of health care is no longe an option. “If we do nothing, within a decadr we will be spending one out of every five dollars we earn onhealth care,” Obama said. “Ijn 30 years, it will be one out of every three.” Obama acknowledgecd covering all Americans wouldbe expensive, but promised health care reforjm would not add to the country’s deficitf over the next 10 years.
“Too make that happen, we have already identified hundreds of billionas worth of savings in ourbudgert – savings that will come from steps like reducin g Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicare and Obama said. In addition, Obama is proposing that Congressw scale back the amountthe highest-incomed Americans can deduct on their taxes and use that moneyu to help finance health care. Obama spoke for about 20 minutes and then took questions from six peopl e in the audience who expressed fearover “socializedc medicine,” asked questions about wellnesss and even questioned the country’s education system.
Regarding the idea of socializedc medicine, Obama said that isn’t what he, or anyoned in Congress, wants.