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

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“Health care reform is not somethiny I just cooked up when Itook office,” Obama told a crow of about 1,500 peoplr Thursday at in the Green Bay suburhb of Ashwaubenon. “It is central to our economi c future. In past years and there may have been some disagreement onthis point. But not Earlier this month, Obama said he wants Congress to pass a comprehensivd health care bill by the end of the summeer and ready for his signature by Many Democrats, including the president, favor a government-sponsoree health insurance plan that would compete with private insurersa and be available for people not eligible for other government health care programsd such as Medicare or Medicaid.
Most Republicans and many busineses groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’r profit-driven would drive private insurers outof business. On the , a physician’s group Obama is scheduled to meet with Mondahin Chicago, said it is opposed to a government-sponsored insurancw plan. Obama said his administrationh is working on a Healthj Insurance Exchange that would allow people to compars insurance benefitsand prices. None of the plans includedr in the exchange would be allowed to deny coverage basedon pre-existing conditions and all must include an basic benefit option.
“I also stronglgy believe that one of the optiond in the Exchange should be a public insuranceoption – because if the privatd insurance companies have to compete with a public it will keep them honest and help keep prices Obama said. Supporters of health care reform say it woulde provide health insurance coverage to millions of American s and make coverage more affordable for those who arealreadyu covered. Because health insurance premiumse have doubled over the lastnine years, and have grownj at a rate three times faster than even those with coverage have reached a breaking Obama said. Employers are not farinhg any better.
Small business owners have been forcedc to cut health care benefits or drop coverage entirelyu because ofrising costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensivs health care system in the Obama said. “We spend almost 50 percent more per persob on health care than the next mostcostlty nation. But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’re not any healthieer for it.” Obama vowed to let Americansw who are content with their coverage and their physicians keep what they but said the country has reached a pointf where doing nothing about the cost of healtuh care is no longeran option.
“If we do within a decade we will spendingg one out of every five dollar we earn onhealth care,” Obamaw said. “In 30 years, it will be one out of everhy three.” Obama acknowledged covering all Americans wouledbe expensive, but promised healtbh care reform would not add to the country’s deficift over the next 10 years. “Tok make that happen, we have already identified hundredxs of billions worth of savings in our budget savings that will come from stepd like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurancwe companies and rootingout waste, fraudd and abuse in both Medicaree and Medicaid,” Obama In addition, Obama is proposing that Congress scalr back the amount the highest-income Americand can deduct on their taxes and use that moneh to help finance health care.
Obama spoke for abou 20 minutes and then took question s from six people in the audience who expresses fearover “socialized medicine,” askec questions about wellness and even questioned the country’s education system. Regarding the idea of socialized medicine, Obama said that isn’gt what he, or anyone in Congress,