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Obama Underscores 'Urgency' in Finishing Health Care Reform
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By VOA News
15 July 2009
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 | | President Barack Obama (file photo) |
U.S. President Barack Obama says health care reform is urgently needed
in the United States, saying the existing state of health care is not
an option.
Mr. Obama, flanked by nurses at a White House event,
said Wednesday that health insurance premiums have risen three times
faster than wages, with the costs so expensive that they can "consume a
family's entire budget."
He praised a Senate committee for
passing health care reform legislation Wednesday, and urged Congress to
finish work on health care reform before its August recess.
Mr.
Obama said the Senate proposal is similar to legislation produced by
Democrats in the House of Representatives, and he said both proposals
will lower costs, raise quality, and ensure fair treatment of consumers
by the insurance industry. Both plans include a government-run
insurance plan that would compete with private insurance providers.
Republicans have criticized the proposals, saying they will lead to job losses and higher taxes.
Tuesday,
House Democrats unveiled their version of health care reform
legislation. The plan calls for an increase in taxes on high wage
earners, which has drawn the ire of fiscally conservative critics.
Republican House member Roy Blunt voiced his party's concerns of the
plan, saying it will kill jobs, limit access to health care, raise
taxes and lead to what he described as a "government takeover of health
care."
Democrats say they are determined to hold a House vote on the bill before the August recess.
Controversy
over extending health coverage to uninsured Americans centers on how to
pay for it - with estimates putting the cost at $1 trillion over a
decade.
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