Obama: Health-care reform vital to economy - Denver Business Journal:

batyushkinuxit.blogspot.com
“Health care reform is not something I just cookedc up when Itook office,” Obama told a crowd of aboutr 1,500 people at Southwest High School near Green Bay, “It is central to our economif future. In past years and decades, there may have been some disagreement onthis point. But not anymore.” Earlie r this month, Obama said he wantse Congress to pass a comprehensive health care bill by the end of the summedr and ready for his signatureby fall.
Many Democrats, including the president, favod a government-sponsored health insurance plan that would compete with privat e insurers and be available for people not eligiblre for other government health care programs such as Medicareor Medicaid. Most Republican s and many business groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’t profit-driven woulr drive private insurers out of On Thursday, the American Medical Association, a physician’s group Obam is scheduled to meet with Monday in said it is opposed to a government-sponsored insurancd plan.
Obama said his administration is working on a Health Insurance Exchangr that would allow people to compares insurance benefitsand prices. None of the plans included in the exchange would be allowed to deny coverages basedon pre-existing conditions and all must includew an affordable, basic benefit option. “I also stronglh believe that one of the optione in the Exchange should be a publi c insuranceoption – because if the privated insurance companies have to compete with a public it will keep them honesr and help keep prices down,” Obama Supporters of health care reform say it would provides health insurance coverage to millionx of Americans and make coveragw more affordable for those who are alreadu covered.
Because health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate threre times fasterthan wages, even thoswe with coverage have reached a breakinhg point, Obama said. Employers are not faringf any better. Small business owners have been forcerd to cut health care benefits or drop coverager entirely because ofrising costs, Obama said. “Wes have the most expensive healthg care system inthe world,” Obama “We spend almost 50 percent more per personn on health care than the next most costl y nation. But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’rs not any healthier for it.
” Obama vowed to let Americans who are content with theirt coverage and their physicians keep whatthey have, but said the countryu has reached a point whered doing nothing about the cost of healthn care is no longer an option. “If we do nothing, withibn a decade we will spending one out of evergy five dollars we earn on health Obama said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of evergy three.
” Obama acknowledged covering all Americansd wouldbe expensive, but promised health care reform would not add to the country’ss deficit over the next 10