Obama: 'Doing nothing' about health care not an option - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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“Health care reform is not something I just cooked up when I took Obama told a crowd ofaboug 1,500 people Thursday at in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon. “It is central to our economif future. In past years and decades, therr may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore.” Earlier this month, Obamaq said he wants Congress to pass a comprehensives health care bill by the end of the summer and readu for his signature by fall. Many including the president, favor a government-sponsored health insurancwe plan that would compete with private insurers and be availablw for people not eligible for othef government health care programs such as Medicareor Medicaid.
Most Republicanw and many business however, say a competingg plan that isn’t profit-driven would drivre private insurers out of On Thursday, the , a physician’sd group Obama is scheduled to meet with Monda y in Chicago, said it is opposed to a government-sponsored insurances plan. Obama said his administration is workinyg on a Health Insurance Exchange that woule allow people to compare insurance benefits and prices. None of the planes included in the exchange would be allowed to deny coveragee basedon pre-existing conditions and all must include an affordable, basic benefitt option.
“I also strongly believe that one of the options in the Exchange should be a publicc insuranceoption – because if the privatr insurance companies have to compete with a public it will keep them honest and help keep pricee down,” Obama said. Supporters of health care reforn say it would provide healthb insurance coverage to millionsz of Americans and make coverage more affordabld for those who arealready covered. Because health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate three time s fasterthan wages, even thosde with coverage have reached a breaking point, Obamaa said.
Employers are not faring any Small business owners have been forced to cut healt care benefits or drop coverage entirely becauswe ofrising costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensivde health care system inthe world,” Obamsa said. “We spend almost 50 percent more per perso on health care than the next mostcostlyh nation. But here’s the thing, Greeb Bay: we’re not any healthier for Obama vowed to let Americans who are content with their coveragee and their physicians keep what they but said the country has reached a point where doinbg nothing about the cost of health care is no longerdan option.
“If we do nothing, within a decade we will be spendinvg one out of every five dollares we earn onhealtgh care,” Obama said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of everhy three.” Obama acknowledged covering all Americanz wouldbe expensive, but promised health care reform would not add to the country’es deficit over the next 10 years. “Tko make that happen, we have already identifiec hundreds of billions worth of savings in ourbudgetg – savings that will come from stepse like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurance companiee and rooting out waste, frauc and abuse in both Medicare and Obama said.
In addition, Obama is proposiny that Congress scale back the amoungtthe highest-income Americans can deduct on their taxew and use that money to help financse health care. Obama spoke for about 20 minutez and then took questions from six peopls in the audience who expressee fearover “socialized medicine,” askes questions about wellness and even questionec the country’s education system.
Regarding the idea of socialized Obama saidthat isn’t what he, or anyone in Congress,