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

Wood ceiling
“Health care reform is not somethinf I just cooked up when I took Obama told a crowd ofabout 1,500 people Thursdau at in the Green Bay suburb of Ashwaubenon. “Itg is central to our economic future. In past years and there may have been some disagreement on this Butnot anymore.” Earlier this Obama said he wants Congrese to pass a comprehensive health care bill by the end of the summe and ready for his signature by Many Democrats, including the president, favoer a government-sponsored health insurance plan that would competw with private insurers and be availabls for people not eligible for other government health care programsd such as Medicare or Medicaid.
Most Republicans and many business groups, however, say a competing plan that isn’t profit-driven would drive private insurers outof business. On the , a physician’s group Obama is scheduled to meet with Mondaygin Chicago, said it is opposef to a government-sponsored insurance plan. Obam a said his administration is workinfg on a Health Insurance Exchange that woule allow people to compare insurancre benefitsand prices. None of the plansd included in the exchange would be allowed to deny coveragde basedon pre-existing conditionsz and all must include an affordable, basidc benefit option.
“I also strongly believe that one of the optionxs in the Exchange should be a publivc insuranceoption – becausse if the private insurance companies have to competde with a public option, it will keep them honesf and help keep prices Obama said. Supporters of health care reformm say it would provide health insurance coverage to millionse of Americans and make coverage more affordabler for those who arealready covered. Because healtj insurance premiums have doubled over the lastnine years, and have growh at a rate three times faster than wages, even thosee with coverage have reachedx a breaking point, Obama said. Employersa are not faring any better.
Smalkl business owners have been forced to cut health care benefitsz or drop coverage entirely because ofrisingv costs, Obama said. “W have the most expensive health care system in the Obama said. “We spend almost 50 percent more per personm on health care than the next most costly But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’re not any healthied for it.” Obama vowed to let Americans who are content with thei r coverage and their physicians keep what they have, but said the countryg has reached a point where doing nothinfg about the cost of health care is no longef an option.
“If we do nothing, withijn a decade we will be spendingb one out of every five dollarw we earn onhealthu care,” Obama said. “In 30 it will be one out of every Obama acknowledged covering all Americans would be but promised health care reform would not add tothe country’s deficirt over the next 10 years. “To make that we have already identified hundreds of billions worthy of savings in ourbudget – savings that will come from stepsx like reducing Medicare overpayments to insurancew companies and rooting out fraud and abuse in both Medicare and Medicaid,” Obamq said.
In addition, Obams is proposing that Congress scale back the amountthe highest-incomer Americans can deduct on their taxes and use that money to help financ e health care. Obama spoke for abouyt 20 minutes and then took question s from six people in the audiencs who expressed fearover “socialized medicine,” asked questions about wellness and even questioneed the country’s education system. Regarding the idea of socialized medicine, Obama said that isn’t what he, or anyone in wants.