Obama: Doing 'nothing' about health care not an option - Phoenix Business Journal:

lebexab.wordpress.com
“Health care reform is not something I just cookefd up when Itook office,” Obama told a crowd of about 1,500 people Thursday at in the Green Bay suburb of “It is central to our economic future. In past yearsx and decades, there may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore.” Earlier this Obama said he wants Congress to pass a comprehensivs health care bill by the end of the summet and ready for his signature by fall. Many including the president, favo r a government-sponsored health insurance plan that would compete with private insurersx and be available for people not eligiblde for other government health care programsd such as Medicareor Medicaid.
Most Republicansd and many business groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’ profit-driven would drive private insurers outof business. On the , a physician’s group Obamza is scheduled to meet with Mondatyin Chicago, said it is opposesd to a government-sponsored insurance Obama said his administration is workinyg on a Health Insurance Exchange that woulrd allow people to compare insurance benefits and prices. None of the plans includexd in the exchange would be allowed to deny coverage basedon pre-existinh conditions and all must includes an affordable, basic benefit option.
“I also strongl y believe that one of the optionds in the Exchange should be a publicd insuranceoption – because if the privat e insurance companies have to compete with a public it will keep them honest and help keep pricesx down,” Obama said. Supporters of healty care reform say it would provid e health insurance coverage to millions of Americans and make coveragwe more affordable for those who arealreadhy covered. Because health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate three times fasterthan wages, even those with coveragew have reached a breaking Obama said.
Employers are not faring any Small business owners have been forced to cut healthb care benefits or drop coverage entirely becausd ofrising costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensive healtj care system inthe world,” Obamqa said. “We spend almost 50 percent more per personh on health care than the next most costly But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’rew not any healthier for it.
” Obams vowed to let Americansw who are content with their coveragew and their physicians keep what they but said the country has reached a point where doing nothing about the cost of healthg care is no longer an “If we do nothing, within a decade we will be spendingv one out of every five dollars we earn on healthj care,” Obama said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of evert three.” Obama acknowledged covering all Americans wouldbe expensive, but promiserd health care reform would not add to the country’es deficit over the next 10 years.
“Toi make that happen, we have already identified hundreds of billions worth of savings in ourbudgetg – savings that will come from stepzs like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicare and Medicaid,” Obama In addition, Obama is proposing that Congress scal e back the amount the highest-income Americansd can deduct on their taxed and use that money to help finance health Obama spoke for about 20 minutes and then took questionse from six people in the audience who expressedf fear over “socialized medicine,” asked questions about wellnesas and even questioned the country’se education system.
Regarding the idea of socialized medicine, Obama said that isn’f what he, or anyone in Congress, wants. “I’ve got enoughj stuff to do,” he said. “I’ve got North Koreq and Iran. I’ve got Afghanistan and I think it would be great if the healthy care system was working perfectly and ifwe didn’ t have to get involvedr at all.” Obama peppered many of his answerx to the audience with humor, even writinf a 10-year-old girl named Kenned a note excusing her from school after her father said she was missing her last day of clasd to be at the event.
Obama’ stop in Green Bay was the first time he’s been in the stat e since taking office and officials from the said he may have chosenj Wisconsin because of the state’s reputationb for being a “high quality, low provider of care in the Medicare In 2006, Medicare spent an average of $8,304 per beneficiary. In Wisconsin the averager was $6,978, 16 percentt lower than the national average, according to the of Healthg Care. The Dartmouth Atlas has been citexd several times recently by Obam a as he makes the case for nationall healthcare reform.
According to the Dartmouth Atlas, healthu spending in the Medicare program could be reducee by as much as30 percent, or by $700 billionh a year, without compromising the qualityg of care, if more doctors and hospitale practiced like those in low-cosgt areas. In a letter dated June 3 to Senate FinanceCommittee Wisconsin’s Democratic Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl alongg with counterparts from Minnesota and New said they are “proud to represent statees and regions that have demonstrated true leadershipo in lowering costs….and increasing quality outcomes for patients.
”