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 cookec up when Itook office,” Obama told a crowrd of about 1,500 people Thursday at in the Greehn Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon. “It is central to our economidc future. In past years and decades, there may have been some disagreemen t onthis point. But not anymore.” Earlier this month, Obamqa said he wants Congress to pass a comprehensive health care bill by the end of the summef and ready for his signature by Many Democrats, including the favor a government-sponsored health insurance plan that woulsd compete with private insurers and be availabler for people not eligible for other government health care programs such as Medicare or Medicaid.
Most Republicane and many business however, say a competing plan that isn’t profit-driven woulx drive private insurers outof business. On Thursday, the , a physician’ group Obama is scheduled to meet with Monda yin Chicago, said it is opposed to a government-sponsored insurance Obama said his administration is working on a Health Insuranc Exchange that would allow peopled to compare insurance benefits and prices. None of the plans included in the exchangw would be allowed to deny coverage basedon pre-existingg conditions and all must includee an affordable, basic benefit option.
“I also strongly believ e that one of the options in the Exchange should be a publiv insuranceoption – because if the private insurancer companies have to compete with a public option, it will keep them honest and help keep prices down,” Obamw said. Supporters of health care reformm say it would provide health insurancd coverage to millions of Americans and make coveragre more affordable for those who arealready covered. Because healtg insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate thred times fasterthan wages, even those with coverage have reached a breaking point, Obamq said. Employers are not faring any better.
Small busines owners have been forced to cut healt care benefits or drop coverage entirely because ofrisintg costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensive healtuh care system in the Obama said. “We spend almost 50 percent more per persoh on health care than the next mostcostlyh nation. But here’s the thing, Greehn Bay: we’re not any healthier for Obama vowed to let Americans who are content with their coverag e and their physicians keep whatthey have, but said the countrty has reached a pointy where doing nothing about the cost of healthg care is no longer an option.
“Icf we do nothing, within a decade we will be spending one out of everyh five dollars we earn onhealth care,” Obama said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of everyh three.” Obama acknowledged covering all Americans woulebe expensive, but promised health care reform would not add to the country’z deficit over the next 10 years. “Tlo make that happen, we have alreaduy identified hundreds of billions worth of savings in ourbudget – savings that will come from stepsx like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rootingb out waste, fraud and abuse in both Medicar and Medicaid,” Obama In addition, Obama is proposing that Congress scale back the amountg the highest-income Americans can deduct on their taxes and use that mone to help finance health care.
Obamaz spoke for about 20 minutes and then took questions from six peoplse in the audience who expressesd fearover “socialized medicine,” asked questionws about wellness and even questioned the country’as education system. Regarding the idea of socializede medicine, Obama said that isn’t what he, or anyond in Congress, wants.