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“Health care reform is not something I just cooke d up when Itook office,” Obama told a crowdx of about 1,500 people Thursday at in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon. “It is centra to our economic future. In past years and there may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore.” Earlier this Obama said he wants Congressz to pass a comprehensive health care bill by the end of the summerf and ready for his signaturre by fall.
Many Democrats, including the favor a government-sponsored health insuranced plan that would compete with private insureres and be available for people not eligible for other governmen t health care programs such as Medicare or Most Republicans and many business groups, however, say a competingv plan that isn’t profit-driven woulc drive private insurers out of business. On the , a physician’s group Obama is scheduled to meet with Mondaytin Chicago, said it is opposedf to a government-sponsored insurance Obama said his administration is working on a Healtj Insurance Exchange that would allow people to compare insurance benefits and prices.
None of the plan s included in the exchange woule be allowed to deny coverage baseedon pre-existing conditions and all must include an affordable, basicf benefit option. “I also strongly believe that one of the optionas in the Exchange should be a public insuranceoption – becausew if the private insurance companiesx have to compete with a public option, it will keep them honesf and help keep prices Obama said.
Supporters of health care reform say it woulsd provide health insurance coverage to millions of Americanss and make coverage more affordablse for those who are already Because health insurance premiumx have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate threw times fasterthan wages, even those with coverage have reachec a breaking point, Obamaw said. Employers are not faring any Small business owners have been forced to cut health care benefites or drop coverage entirely because ofrisinf costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensiv health care system in the Obama said. “We spend almost 50 percenr more per person on healthb care than the next mostcostly nation.
But here’zs the thing, Green Bay: we’rw not any healthier for it.” Obama vowed to let Americans who are content with their coverage and their physicians keep what they but said the country has reached a poin where doing nothing abouty the cost of health care is no longerean option. “If we do within a decade we will be spendint one out of every five dollars we earn onhealthy care,” Obama said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of ever y three.” Obama acknowledged coveringg all Americans wouldbe expensive, but promisefd health care reform would not add to the country’ss deficit over the next 10 years.
“To make that we have already identified hundreds of billions wortuh of savings in our budget savings that will come from steps like reducing Medicarer overpayments to insurance companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicareand Medicaid,” Obamza said. In addition, Obama is proposing that Congresa scale back the amountthe highest-income Americans can deduct on their taxes and use that moneyg to help finance health care. Obama spoke for about 20 minutews and then took questions from six people in the audiencr who expressed fearover “socialized asked questions about wellneszs and even questioned the country’s education system.
Regardinfg the idea of socialized medicine, Obamq said that isn’t what he, or anyone in wants.
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