President Barack Obama pushes his health care plan to Congress
Posted by The Skyliner on September 16th, 2009Leasy Sandal
Staff Writer
(Photo by Ron Edmonds/Associated Press)
On Wednesday, Sept. 9, in an address to Congress, President Barack Obama clarified his plan for national health care. He has been working to pass widespread health coverage to those who already have existing health insurance and to those who do not. Obama’s goal is to provide high-quality, affordable healthcare for all citizens.
Many are skeptical of the President’s proposal due to anxiety over additional deficits in an already poor economy. Obama insists that national health care will not add to the nation’s recession.
“The plan will not add to our deficit. The middle class will realize greater security, not higher taxes. And if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just one-tenth of 1 percent each year, it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term,” Obama said.
The plan promises that quality health care will be a priority. The President wishes to improve the way care is delivered to patients. The health care plan proposes that hospitals will have a greater incentive to treat patients with better care to avoid readmissions.
The President’s plan will promote medical professionals to identify waste, fraud and maltreatment in the health care system.
“This will create an independent commission, made up of doctors and medical experts to make recommendations to Congress each year on how to promote greater efficiency and higher quality in Medicare,” Obama said.
Obama recalled President Theodore Roosevelt’s proposal for national health care. He remarked that America has failed to meet the challenge President Roosevelt first presented. There are currently 30 million Americans without health care. One in every three Americans in a two year time period is without health insurance of any kind. And with the current economical situation, 14,000 Americans have lost their health care coverage.
“We spend one and a half more times per person on health care than any other country, and we aren’t any healthier for it,” Obama said. “Our health care system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers. When health care costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Put simply, our health care problem is our deficit problem. Nothing else even comes close.”
Sandye James, mother of six in Anderson, S.C., is nervous to accept a national health care plan.
“If a person complains of a toothache and they need a filling, a dentist would most likely pull the tooth instead of spending more money to provide a filling. They are going to perform the most inexpensive care since everyone will be covered with health insurance.”
Many Americans share this concern, yet Obama continues to insist that medical professionals will reach a higher level of health care.
“I think over the long run, Obama’s plan will take away from the debt, but the country will not experience financial freedom for a long time,” Spenser Miner, senior, political enthusiast, said.
“I believe the government could find a way to pay for the health care. They need to tweak the system because the savings are already there. It is a very complicated thing. Obama should have taken a more direct approach,” Miner said
President Obama closed his speech with encouragement for Congress to provide support for his plan as well as for the American people.
“We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it’s hard. … I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history’s test.”
Tags: Fall 2009, Vol. 109 - Issue 2