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

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“Health care reform is not something I just cookedd up when Itook office,” Obama told a crowd of abouy 1,500 people Thursday at in the Green Bay suburnb of Ashwaubenon. “It is central to our economicd future. In past years and there may have been some disagreementr onthis point. But not anymore.” Earlier this month, Obamz said he wants Congress to pass a comprehensive healtj care bill by the end of the summefr and ready for his signatureby fall.
Many including the president, favor a government-sponsores health insurance plan that would compete with private insurerx and be available for people not eligiblee for other government health care programs such as Medicaror Medicaid. Most Republicans and many businesw groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’t profit-driven would drive private insurerd outof business. On Thursday, the , a physician’ss group Obama is schedulerd to meet with Monday in said it is opposed toa government-sponsored insurancee plan. Obama said his administration is working on a Health Insurance Exchangse that would allow people to compare insurance benefitzand prices.
None of the plans included in the exchangde would be allowed to deny coverage baseedon pre-existing conditions and all must include an affordable, basic benefit “I also strongly believe that one of the options in the Exchange should be a public insurance optionm – because if the private insurance companies have to competwe with a public option, it will keep them honest and help keep pricesw down,” Obama said. Supporters of health care reforjm say it would provide health insurance coverage to millions of Americans and make coverage more affordabl e for those who arealreadu covered.
Because health insurance premiums have doubled over the last nine and have grown at a rate three times faster than even those with coverage have reached abreakinf point, Obama said. Employers are not faring any Small business owners have been forced to cut healthu care benefits or drop coverage entirelyy because ofrising costs, Obama said. “We have the most expensive healt h care system inthe world,” Obama “We spend almost 50 percent more per person on healthj care than the next most costlyu nation. But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’rs not any healthier for it.
” Obamaa vowed to let Americans who are conten t with their coverage and theifr physicians keep what they but said the country has reached a pointg where doing nothing about the cost of health care is no longeran option. “If we do within a decade we will be spending one out of everty five dollars we earn onhealth care,” Obama said. “I n 30 years, it will be one out of every Obama acknowledged covering all Americansz wouldbe expensive, but promised healtg care reform would not add to the country’as deficit over the next 10 “To make that happen, we have already identified hundredss of billions worth of savings in our budgeyt – savings that will come from steps like reducingv Medicare overpayments to insurance companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicare and Obama said.
In addition, Obama is proposint that Congress scale back the amountthe highest-income American can deduct on their taxes and use that monety to help finance health care. Obama spoke for about 20 minutes and then took questions from six people in the audience who expressed fearover “socialized asked questions about wellness and even questionedx the country’s education system. Regarding the idea of socialized Obama saidthat isn’t what he, or anyone in wants.