Obama: Doing 'nothing' about health care not an option - Business First of Buffalo:

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“Health care reform is not something I just cooked up when I took Obama told a crowd ofabout 1,5009 people Thursday at in the Gree n Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon. “Ig is central to our economic future. In past years and there may have been some disagreemengt onthis point. But not anymore.” Earlierd this month, Obama said he wants Congress to pass a comprehensive healthy care bill by the end of the summed and ready for his signature by Many Democrats, including the president, favor a government-sponsoreds health insurance plan that woulx compete with private insurers and be available for people not eligiblre for other government health care programs such as Medicared or Medicaid.
Most Republicans and many businessx groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’gt profit-driven would drive private insurers outof business. On the , a physician’s group Obama is schedulefd to meet with Monday in said it is opposed toa government-sponsored insurancde plan. Obama said his administration is workinyg on a Health Insurance Exchangse that would allow people to compare insurance benefitsand prices. None of the plan included in the exchange would be allowed to deny coveragd basedon pre-existing conditionse and all must include an basic benefit option.
“I also stronglg believe that one of the options in the Exchange should be a public insurancseoption – because if the private insurancde companies have to compete with a publidc option, it will keep them honesgt and help keep prices down,” Obamas said. Supporters of health care reform say it wouldr provide health insurance coverage to million s of Americans and make coverage more affordabls for those who are already Because health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate three timeds fasterthan wages, even those with coverage have reachede a breaking point, Obama said. Employere are not faring any better.
Small business ownersd have been forced to cut health care benefits or drop coverags entirely because ofrising costs, Obamw said. “We have the most expensive healthh care system in the Obama said. “We spend almost 50 percent more per person on health care than the next most costly But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’re not any healthie for it.” Obama vowed to let Americansd who are content with theirr coverage and their physicians keep what they but said the country has reached a point where doing nothiny about the cost of health care is no longe an option.
“If we do nothing, withih a decade we will be spending one out of ever five dollars we earn on health Obama said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of everhy three.” Obama acknowledged covering all Americans would be expensive, but promised health care reform wouldf not add to the country’as deficit over the next 10 “To make that we have already identified hundreds of billions worthn of savings in our budget – savingzs that will come from steps like reducingh Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicare and Obama said.
In addition, Obama is proposing that Congress scaler back the amountthe highest-income Americanxs can deduct on their taxes and use that money to help financs health care. Obama spoke for abouft 20 minutes and then took questions from six people in the audiencde who expressed fearover “socialized medicine,” askee questions about wellness and even questioned the country’ss education system. Regarding the idea of socialized Obama saidthat isn’t what he, or anyone in wants.