30 March 2009
Reforming Health Care Will Strengthen Economy, Obama Says
Health care debate has long history in United States
Washington — “Now is the time to reform the health care system,” President Obama said March 26 in the first White House online town hall meeting.
In just two days, more than 92,000 people submitted more than 100,000 questions to the White House Web site. The president answered some of them during a town hall webcast live on WhiteHouse.gov.
While the designated topic was the economy, it was not surprising that the president spoke about health care. Since taking office, Obama and members of his administration routinely have cited improving the American health care system as a necessary step toward strengthening the nation’s economy.
“There’s not a small business or a large business out here who hasn’t seen their health care costs skyrocket. And it cuts into their profits. And it’s a drag on the federal budget and state budgets,” the president said, noting that government funding of health care programs is a major contribution to the country’s budget deficit.
HEALTH CARE AN ONGOING DEBATE IN UNITED STATES
Americans long have expressed concerns about the cost of health insurance and other medical expenses. The debate on how to best provide health care is “a rather old debate in the American political life,” said Robert Moffitt of the Heritage Foundation. Moffitt and Karen Davenport of the Center for American Progress spoke to journalists at the State Department’s Foreign Press Center March 17.
“People are concerned that if they lose their health insurance coverage and they find themselves in a situation where they need health care that they will not be able to afford it,” Moffitt said.
One of the reasons for this debate, which dates back to around World War II, is that there is no national consensus on how health care should be provided, Moffitt said. There are disagreements over whether all Americans should be required to have health insurance and over how much of a role the government should play in providing health care.
The United States spends about 16 percent of the country’s gross domestic product on health care, significantly more per capita than any other nation. It is the only industrialized country that does not mandate access to health insurance for all citizens.
Most Americans receive health insurance at a subsidized cost through their employers, and many like the insurance they receive this way. However, in an economic climate in which some are concerned they may lose their jobs, many of these people may also have worries over losing their health insurance.
Additionally, many small companies do not provide insurance for their employees, and insurance purchased independently can be significantly more costly to individuals than that provided by their employer. The U.S. government provides assistance through Medicare for those 65 and older and Medicaid for those with low incomes.
About 15 percent of the U.S. population does not have insurance. However, some of the uninsured are temporary and others who can afford insurance choose not to purchase it. Hospitals are required by law to treat the uninsured.
REFORMING THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM
President Obama said he seeks a health care system in which all people can have coverage, but that does not mean the United States will switch to a system used by many European countries and Canada in which citizens are automatically given taxpayer-supported insurance.
“I think we should be able to provide health insurance to every American that they can afford and that provides them high quality,” the president said. “There are a variety of ways to get to universal health care coverage.”
The American employer-based system “may not be the best system if we were designing it from scratch, but that’s what everybody’s accustomed to. … It works for a lot of Americans,” Obama said.
“I don’t think the best way to fix our health care system is to suddenly completely scrap what everybody is accustomed to. … Rather, what I think we should do is to build on the system we have and fill some of these gaps,” the president said.
Already, the president, in cooperation with Congress, has signed a bill designed to expand health insurance coverage for low-income children. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a major economic stimulus bill signed in February, included millions of dollars for modernizing health records. Administration officials say that by modernizing records, billions of dollars in health care costs will be saved.
“I’m looking to Congress to work with me to find that optimal system” of health care coverage, Obama said. “My expectation is … that I will have a health care bill to sign this year. That’s what we’re going to be fighting for.”
Both Moffitt and Davenport said it is possible to achieve major health care reforms this year. But the president will have to gain support from Republicans, particularly in the Senate, Moffitt said, to get legislation passed.
A transcript of the president’s remarks is available on America.gov.
