President Obama on September 9 made an impassioned appeal to a joint session of Congress to overhaul the health care system, asserting “now is the season for action” and “now is the time to deliver on health care.” Pressured to provide greater details to his reform plan, the president spelled out three main goals where he said there is broad consensus: “consumer protections for those with insurance, an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance.”
Obama promised that his plan for comprehensive reform would not add to the deficit and that it would contain a provision requiring additional spending cuts to pay for additional costs. Under the roughly $900 billion plan, the middle class would see “greater health care security, not higher taxes,” Obama contended. He also noted that the plan would provide tax credits for individuals and small businesses that cannot afford the cost of insurance available in the exchange. The exchange would go into effect in four years, according to the president.
The president continued to make his case for a not-for-profit public option but also made clear he is open to alternatives that meet the same goal of providing affordable insurance to those who do not have it. He noted that proposals that limit public plans to markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies or to set up co-ops or other non-profit entities to administer the plan are “constructive ideas worth exploring.”
Obama also maintained that a public insurance option would only be available to the uninsured and that it would not be subsidized by taxpayers. “Like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects,” he asserted.
Congressional reaction
Congressional reaction fell along partisan lines with Democratic leaders praising the President’s linking of health care reform to economic recovery and Republican leaders questioning the cost to the American taxpayer and the inevitable inefficiency of a public option. Ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa said in a statement that fixing the affordability and access problems facing small businesses and individuals who buy insurance on their own is more important than creating a new federal insurance program. “Putting the federal government in charge of health care would not curb medical inflation or improve the health care delivery system. From rationing of care to infringing on the doctor-patient relationship, a government run system also would guarantee U.S. taxpayers a staggering tax burden for generations to come,” said Grassley.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., said that Obama’s speech served to remind lawmakers that health insurance reform that controls costs is critical to economic recovery and long-term fiscal health. “He outlined in no uncertain terms the universal benefit of reforms that will make our workforce, children and fiscal outlook healthier than they are today,” said Rangel in a prepared statement. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said following the President’s speech that opponents of health care reform were now faced with the choice of either advancing reform or continuing to spread falsehoods. “We all know that the cost of inaction is too great and that doing nothing is simply not an option,” said Reid.
CCH Washington Bureau, Sept. 9, 2009
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