Obama: Health Reform Closer Than Ever

(CBS/ AP)

President Obama today lauded the progress Congress has made advancing health care reform but pressed legislators to keep working -- and to try for bipartisanship.

"This progress should make us hopeful," Mr. Obama said from the White House Rose Garden, "but it can't make us complacent. It should instead provide the urgency for both the House and the Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess."

The House of Representatives introduced its health reform proposal yesterday, while a key Senate panel voted on its own version of reform yesterday. Mr. Obama called the Senate bill "a major milestone."

"It's a plan that was debated for more than 50 hours and, by the way, includes more than 160 Republican amendments -– a hopeful sign of bipartisan support for the final product, if people are serious about bipartisanship," he said.

Both bills include a health insurance exchange -- a marketplace that will allow families and small businesses to choose their plan -- and a public health insurance option. The president said both versions "take what's best about our system today and make it the basis of our system tomorrow – reducing costs, raising quality, and ensuring fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry."

With representatives from the American Nurses Association by his side, Mr. Obama said, "we are now closer to the goal of health reform than we have ever been."

He said nurses know as well as anyone how much health care reform is needed -- and that they would benefit from legislative changes that would allow them to spend less time on paperwork and less time with patients suffering from preventable diseases.

"If we make their jobs just a little bit easier, we can attract and train the young nurses we need to make up a nursing shortage that's only getting worse," he said. "Nurses do their part every time they check another healthy patient out of the hospital. It's time for us to do our part."

Americans who already have health insurance, the president said, will not only be able to keep their plans under his reform proposal but also save money.

"You won't have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin," he said.

The president warned opponents of reform to take a "hard look" at the status quo, which he called unsustainable.

"We're going to get this done," Mr. Obama said. "These nurses are on board. The American people are on board. It's up to us now."

[firstbornqueen]

People who can't afford health insurance should pay according to "their income" if these people are on food assistance, welfare, and medicate and not working, then they should be put to work. There is plenty to do, even if it's part-time, you put your hours in and you can get your food card along with your medical card.For our elderly and those who are disabled they too should be charged according to their SS income.

Medications should not be so expensive. Lawsuits should be capped. There should also be more clinics available for low income people, these clinics should utilized doctor's who can volunteer their time and services and charge a flat fee or accordingly. On coming new physicians could also have their residence there. We the people should be able to help our community by working hard, instead of sharing the wealth and increasing taxes and spending money we don't have. People who pay for their health plan and medications keep their dignity and are much more appreciative. My mom is almost 70, is working part time to supplement her fixed income, and goes to a low income clinic and is on a reduced medication fee!

[babooph]

Cuban healthcare-longer lifespan than the States[with a larger black % pop."the excuse given for Europeans living longer"]all with an economy under 50 years of US economic attack-HOW DO THEY DO IT??!!Maybe no endless military spending,avoidance of war for 30 years,no massive lobbyist bribes,or something just as simple.Their rich were not taxed for it,they ran to Miami years ago;looks like they were not so valuable a commodity.

[enwr77]

Mandated Health Insurance if that is not a dictatorship, I do not know what is. He is an insurance company man. Auto insurance is mandated because of the risk to others. Stop spending for war and there will be monies for health insurance. It is time for the people to take back the country from corporations and their war or insurance companies Presidents. It is time to take to the streets and protest mandated insurance. Either that or move from this country. It is not getting better. Instead of companies that produce war products, it is companies that have ruined healthcare for the population that control this administration. It will be insurance companies that will have all the money and the people none. More of take from the poor and give to the rich. The Courts will be no help in a challenge to see if healthcare can be mandated. That is not democracy. This country is going down, down, down. Tax and spend democrats. I will not vote democratic in the next election. I will go back to voting for non democrat or republican. I am truly disappointed. I have seen nothing for the people from this administration.

[bonncaruso]

impeachbhb wrote:

"CBS NEWS JUST ADVISED AN ERROR IN THE HEADLINE WAS MADE
It should have read Obama; Socialism Closer Than Eve"

What a bunch of right wing hooey.

[impeachbhb]

CBS NEWS JUST ADVISED AN ERROR IN THE HEADLINE WAS MADE
It should have read Obama; Socialism Closer Than Ever

[robinspp]

Obama is not abolishing the private run health insurance. He is trying to give an alternate government run insurance program. If you are satisfied with private company swindlers go ached, no one is going to stop you for your foolish act. The people wanted to have better health care, they should have an option. That?s it. The GOP?s are with big mafia of private insurance companies. I do not know why the ignorant people like you are not waking up, still sleeping and still encouraging the swindlers.

[vielmann]

by jgg00000008 July 15, 2009 6:05 PM EDT
what private sector company can compete with a government-owned competitor?
***********
If they can't compete, then they are corrupt.

[bluecollarjoe]

We already spend more per capita on healthcare than any other country (2.6 TRILLION per year), yet 40 -50 million Americans are still uninsured. Hardly the "best healthcare system in the world." The insurance industry has shown that we certainly cannot trust them to make our health care decisions. Their greed for profits will always override our need for expensive care. It is long past time we had a government option to force their premiums down and their healthcare up. Added savings to medicare and medicaid are just a bonus along the way.

[robinspp]

It is good news for millions of Americans. No more treatment denials from the private run insurance companies. I am a pharmacist; I know how many people are denied daily for the prescribed medicine because it is expensive. If people have another choice of having Government run health insurance program, then there is competition. The denial of treatment will not exist in future. The future is going to be bright for uninsured as well as insured with denial of health care.

[Joe_NY_15]

There is absolutely NO WAY that America will be able to pay for this size of program by taxing the wealthy a few %'s......it is impossible

Eventually you run out of other people's money.

There is no doubt that the government will eventually cut services or deny procedures

The government is already broke, where do they get off thinking they can afford the largest programs in the history of America ?????

[ceetee9]

Ah yes, we?re bankrupt as a nation, still spending money like there?s no tomorrow, bleeding jobs at a rate of half a million or more a month, people are losing their homes and cars at a rate never before seen, small businesses are closing all over the country and businesses that are big enough are taking billions of tax payer dollars and still going bankrupt (and/or still paying their executives obscene bonuses and salaries), so it makes perfect sense to tack on another trillion plus dollars to our national debt, force more small businesses to go out of business by mandating they pay for insurance they can?t afford, and force the rest of us to buy something we can barely afford in the best of times. Yes, that should fix the health care crisis. There is no intelligence in Washington.

In his own words President Obama said that for over a decade health care costs have been rising at three times the average wage rate, so why is no one looking into that? We (the American people) have been told for years that we must do more with less while the corporate elite are still allowed their free reign to rape and pillage us. I personally have experienced a negative wage growth for the past 7 years (e.g., I lost over 30% of my salary alone in 2002 and have never recouped it). So why is it that our illustrious ?leaders? are not investigating why the medical and pharmaceutical (and other) industries have been enjoying double-digit inflation for years while the rest of us are lucky if we get a raise at all?

Wake up America this may be the final nail in the coffin that buries us. If government no longer represents us it is our duty to cast it off.