Obama Puts Heartbeat Back In Health Care Reform

President Barack Obama's comments about health care during his Tuesday press conference gave the progressive community, which has warned for weeks now that the sky is falling as far as health care reform is concerned, a newfound sense of optimism.

The president did not go as far as some Democratic operatives would have liked but with regard to a public plan for insurance coverage, he said he was not ready to walk away from a bill that lacked this hotly contested component.

"We have not drawn a line in the sand other than reform has to control costs, and it has to provide relief to people who don't have health insurance or are underinsured," Obama said.

But the president made, perhaps, the strongest case to date that a government-run option should be in the bill, calling it "an important tool to discipline insurance companies." He scoffed at private insurers for their arguments against the proposal.

"Why would it drive private insurers out of business?" asked Obama. "If they tell you they're offering a good deal, why is it that government, which they say can't run anything, can drive them out of business? There are gonna be some legitimate debates to be had about how this takes shape. But conceptually, if they can't compete against a public plan as one option, with consumers making the decision on the best plan, that defies logic."

In the immediate aftermath of the press conference, the health care community was buzzing with excitement, about the second statement in particular. "He's not going to draw a line on anything right now [because] he can't get in the way of the legislative process," said one activist. "But continuing to champion for it is basically putting it out there and ensuring it will remain in the mix until it's in conference."

Certainly, the pressure is being ramped up regardless of Obama's words. The progressive leaning group, Health Care for America Now started a campaign on Tuesday, with other like-minded voices, to place political pressure on California Democrat Sen. Diane Feinstein to come into the fold on a public option. Meanwhile, Sen. Kent Conrad has begun moving incrementally toward nationalizing his idea of co-ops for insurance coverage, a move that brings the proposal in line with a public plan.

Combined, the news has served as a defibrillator of sorts for the progressive community. Said one activist: "We are closer now than anyone has ever been. The news media should celebrate that and stop trying to find the doom and gloom at every turn. We may actually get good health care for people imagine how nice would that be?"

Reminded how much more optimistic a tone she was striking post press conference, she added, "Someone must have spiked my corn pops this morning."

Get HuffPost Politics On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[oldrwizr]

http://hc-dw.org/ health care reform countup - how many die

155 days have passed since Democrats were put in control and promised us health care reform. 8,510 have died from lack of healthcare. 22 have died today.

Since 9/11, 175,715 have died due to lack of health care. That's the same as 59 9/11's.

22,000 people died in 2008 due to lack of healthcare.

Not included in that figure are the amount of people who die annually from shoddy medical care who do have insurance as a result of Doctors being directed by Insurance clerks on what treatments are acceptable ( meaning reimbursable) . Initial research shows that number is much higher.

These facts need to be repeated over and over when the Republicans and a few turncoat Dems keep fighting against the people and for the Insurance Corporations.

We have to fight hard and loud, people.

[DerbiDiva]

If the government run Postal Service hasn't put FedEx or UPS out of business yet...why would a gov't run healthcare plan put United Healthcare out of business? I realize that the Postal Service was there first and FedEx and UPS provided a service that was necessary that the Postal Service didn't, but I still think the comparison holds. The Postal Service has modified their business plan to compete and FedEx & UPS are still holding their own. Do you think this has helped the shipping industry or hurt it, really? I would prefer single payer but think that is going to be hard for Americans to accept all at once, do a public plan see how it works and adjust as necessary.

The biggest problem I see is with Congress and because of the special interest and lobby they are not willing to do the work and get this done. I am disappointed that Obama isn't taking the bull by the horns and pushing this through...think LBJ with the Civil Rights Act. He needs to roll up his sleeves and bully some people around to get this done. This is important and something that we have to do, I don't think we have a choice to just leave it the way it is and a bad plan is worse.

[Samalabear]

Don't these private insurers operate in single-payer countries in supporting roles? Is this the problem. They are using US citizens to "subsidize" the "lack of profit" they feel they make in single-payer countries like Canada? It's just a crazy idea that popped into my head last night. Insurance companies make obscene amounts of money off of Americans, and we know it wasn't always like this.

[SeattleWill]

Actually, it is government run programs like Medicare that use private insurance in supporting roles. Medicare pays nurses, doctors, hospitals and clinics less than the actual cost of services provided, forcing private insurance to pay more. In single payer countries like the United Kingdom (I lived there for years) private insurance is not allowed to offer better coverage. That is why so many Brits fly to America to get health care they were denied due to government rationing. The death rate from cancer and other treatable illness is much higher in the UK and Canada because treatment is either delayed or denied by government run programs. We are so lucky to live in America.

[MichaelTenery]

Because in America. Insurance companies get to decide who lives or dies for a profit. yeah that makes sense. Get the facts. We pay more money for health care than any other industrialized nation and what do we get for it? We are 37th in terms of heatlhcare. That is what for profit insurance has brought us too.

There may be some legitimate discussion about the socialized part where doctors are concerned but insurance companies only make money when they collect money without paying it out. That model simply doesn't work. Standing in line to get health care beats is a step up from being denies it be fat cat insurers.

The truth will set you free.

[Leakman]

In this day an age why are these important issues not put on a national referendum. Congress was created to represent the people back when it was impossible for individuals to represent themselves; times were tough and it took practically all your strength to put food on the table.
In todays world, practically everyone has a cell phone, access to the internet, and are relatively informed; through television, online news, and their own freinds. Put the legislation up for a month for everyone to study. No lobbying on TV or print at all. Everyone vote by a certain day. Pass or Fail. We are not the sheep they think we are.

[Samalabear]

This is the best idea yet. I don't understand this either. Put up three proposals -- private, public option and single payer -- and let the people decide. Right now the single payer proponents are being outright silenced.

But the simple answer to your question is money -- the bought and paid-for Congress and, yes, even the POTUS. No one personifies this problem better than Baucus.

[SeattleWill]

Could it be because we have a Constitution that protects us from mob rule? Could it be that as a republic, we do not allow the people who don't want to work hard from stealing all the money from the folks who do work hard?

[MichaelTenery]

So instead we allow the insurance companies and pharma companies to bleed us dry. No thanks.

[amiri1]

Obama effectively personalized his healthcare initiative during today's press conference. Whenever there are big ticket items his administration needs to "push" he is his best press spokesman. He dispelled all of the myths about "the high cost" of providing a governement health care "OPTION". It is absolutely exhasting hearing all of the anti- government healthcare rhetoric coming from the right.
What he was able to drive home today is that when the government program is instituted it won't destroy or consume the present healhcare options but would be an addition to the medical care landscape that could possibly help further regulated the free market medical business by creating a truly competitve environment where existing medical insurance companies have to offer comparable services at competitve prices.

[Lorianne]

This looking like a 2-tier system ... one for the well off, and one for the rest of us.

[USCitizenShareHolder]

Now the GOP says that Health Care Reform is moving to fast and that there needs to be a slow down.

I guess they are saying to sick people or people who may get sick.

Just wait and die because we are going to try to delay health care reform long as possible

That way, my insurance friends can continue to get as rich as possible and pass along some of that money to me.

When you are sick, slow is not an option.

The slower you get treated, the quicker you die.

[Lorianne]

The sobering lessons of health reform in Massachusetts.
http://www.slate.com/id/2221031/

[Samalabear]

I've read a lot of articles on the Massachusetts' plan. It's a disaster and a lot of the public option with mandates for individuals and businesses is chilling. It should scare the crap out of everybody.

[billhodges]

I am curious why Obama refused to answer the question posed last night regarding a promise to not use medical tests and services outside the national health care system if that system had not approved them for his family. A service that only the wealthy could afford under the private secote. He simply said he would do what was needed to provide the best care for his family. I thought the National Health Care plan was going to be the best!

[SeattleWill]

Are you really surprised that he would not trust his family's lives to a government run health care system? How can you not love the people who give us the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Postal Service, the IRS, Social Security, Medicare... Are you suggesting that perhaps someone might actually want an option to the one size fits all plan being developed in Washington? That when it comes to life and death, government mandates, rationing, waiting lists, appeals and the death and misery sure to follow might not be what we all want? Might it not be smarter to try and help those Americans who currently have no insurance to get some? Most Americans (85%) have coverage. Many of those who don't are actually eligible for Medicare, Medicaid or some state program. Of the citizens left who are not covered, we can come up with coverage for far less than the trillion or so dollars currently being discussed without destroting the coverage most Americans enjoy.

[hapiday]

The Government/George Bush came to the American people and said we need your help and we are going to use your money to bailout wall street/banks. We didn't like it and couldn't stop it from happening.
The auto companies came hat in hand and said we need your help, so our money bailed them out too.
The congress and the Bush administration voted to go to war and lied to the American people about the war. They used our money again to support the war in Iraq.

President Obama is finishing up what was started and again needs our help. Well, all I can say is we deserve to get something out of all this help we are giving. It's say that Some people have been brainwashed to believe they aren't worthy or deserving of help by their government. We the people have to act like we expect something in return for our help. It's pay back time and we want it now.

[lared]

I agree with you hapiday.

[kstuff]

The FDA should require Conservaderms to wear warning labels. They're hazardous to our health.

[billhodges]

You need to read Common Sense to get a fresh perspective on your country and where is heading. That is if you read.

[USCitizenShareHolder]

Our national representative (both Republican and Democrats) are not listening to the people.

Our national representative need to realize that the people mean business and they want real change.

In what states can you have recall elections if you feel your national representative is not representing the people? If just may be time to investigate this option.

Now thats a change I can believe in.

[noneIn2008]

Alinksy - "to the [community] organizer, compromise is a key and beautiful word". "Demand 100%, then compromise for 30%, and you're 30% ahead"

[marxmarv]

A bit of a shame he took single payer off the table from the get-go, isn't it? That would've made a powerful bargaining chip.

[billhodges]

And this is something your proud of following, A Socialist like Sal?

[barackobama4prez]

What he said about the last gov't surplus being dissipated by the last administration must have stung a little. But it's the truth. Just think if we had some of that savings, what we could be using it for? We should never have let them steal our $$$$ for false wars, perks and programs that would never work.

[balthus]

All too true. The tax cuts handed to the wealthiest Americans by Bush cost us over a trillion dollars - enough to pay for health care.

[barackobama4prez]

Something is wrong when we gave the old guy anything he wanted for his greedy ambitions, but we can't seem to find any money for the new guy to help the American people.

[SeattleWill]

Nobody was handed anything. The folks who pay all the taxes just got to pay a little less. You do know that fully half of Americans pay absolutely no income tax? And that the folks who earn in the top 10% pay 65% of all the taxes collected in the US. The other 90% of Americans pay barely a third of the taxes. And somehow you think they owe you more? Why?

[rxvette]

Read this story - http://rxvette.blogspot.com/2009/05/healthcare-reform-touches-home.html

[Hope Lives]

You absolutely must read this, it is the best thing you will ever read about healthcare reform. And President Obama may be talking about the fact that a public option is the ONLY way to reduce costs (or universal healthcare which seems off the table). Please read the article linked below... it is the only way we can change healthcare.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/22/745530/-To:-Democratic-SenateCongressional-staff,-deliver-this-message-and-do-it-now

[SherryJarrell]

No! No! No! Everyone please just take a breath, and THINK. When Obama says he wants to reduce the cost of health care, he does not mean he is going to reduce the price of a prescription, doctor's visit, or health insurance. He means that he wants to reduce the cost of health-related government programs, like Medicaid, Medicare,and CHIPs. The reason those costs are going up is because the Government is using someone else's money to decide what medical services we can and cannot have without any mechanism for providing those services efficiently or in ways that enable us to make our own choices about how to take care of ourselves, whether to self-insure, how much insurance to buy if any, and how often to see a doctor and about what. Obama's plan is "Health care by committee" - regulated, limited, delayed, depersonalized. Can you name five bureaucrats whom you would entrust with the medical decisions for you and your children? I certainly can't.

Competition improves quality and reduces costs. Consider elective cosmetic surgery. It is not generally covered by medical insurance and, as a result, is a competitively supplied, with malpractice laws in place to limit abuse. The quality of facelifts and tummy tucks? Up. Their price tag? Down. We could enjoy the same developments if we could get the government out of the health care business. Unlikely. But let's not make it worse by expanding the role of government provided health care.

www.SherryJarrell.com

[Hope Lives]

What he means is that a public option is the ONLY way to get the cost control we have to have to really reform healthcare. Like medicare... 15% less than insurance companies. The thing the insurance companies aren't considering is that the people they consider uninsurable will flock to the public plan. Insurance companies LOVE medicare because it covers the people they don't want... old people who are most likely to be, or get, sick. This would be the same. But we have one chance only to pass real reform. Please read this article... it tells you exactly why...
(you may need to cut and paste the whole thing... it may be that the second part should also be part of the link....
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/6/22/745530/-To:-Democratic-SenateCongressional-staff,-deliver-this-message-and-do-it-now

[SherryJarrell]

And what pays for medicaid? Tax dollars. Where do tax dollars come from? Private industry. Every dollar of income generated by private industry that is collected by the government shrinks to 50-60 cents before it gets spent on medicaid. In the meanwhile, the people who earned that money could have purchased twice the health care and insurance that they CHOSE. As it is, the government decides what kinds of health care it will pay for, how much it will pay for it, how much a doctor can get reimbursed for...etc etc etc. Every one of those decisions and layers of bureaucracy destroys wealth and quality of life and freedom. Every one of those collective decisions takes my free choice away from me and you. Medicare does NOT cost 15% less than private insurance. The government allows 15% less reimbursement to the doctors and hospitals, which means that the quantity and quality of care that they can provide falls. Government spending is by it's very definition less efficient than private spending; government spending REPLACES private decisions. Do you WANT the government to take care of you? To make all your decisions? Do you want them to continue to take money away from your neighbor to pay for your medicaid?

[citizensrus]

I've had government health care. It is comparative and sometimes much better than private health care has been in all instances.

[SherryJarrell]

What do you mean by "government health care," may I ask?

[SeattleWill]

I don't know what planet you are from, but in EVERY case where I have been forced to use government health care it has been horrid. I lived in Britain with National Health Care and I have sufferred with HMOs in America. I am so thankful that I have good old Blue Cross now. Yes, I pay a deductible and 20% of the cost of my care, but I chose what doctor I see, what tests are perfomed and what treatment I receive.

[chaifreak]

Where the hedoublehockeysticks have you been for the last thirty years? Supposed competition in the insurance industry has got us where we are today. Who is paying you?

[SherryJarrell]

Which insurance industry are you talking about? And what do you mean by "got us where we are today?"

[billhodges]

Oh Medicare is great and that is why many doctors are refusing to treat those using it because it does not cover their cost of service. And you think a National plan would fare better. Maybe with the worst of the doctors who will take anything and give poor treatment.

Read Common Sense and get a better perspective on what your country is losing with Obama.

[thepoliticalcat]

Your analogy is deeply flawed. There is competition for elective cosmetic surgery because the buyers don't NEED it. They WANT it and will shop around. Non-elective medical procedures, like treatment for a life-threatening ailment, for example, puts the consumer at an immediate disadvantage. The procedure is expensive, often very dangerous, and not always available in a timely fashion. Moreover, the consumer is usually not in a position to cover the cost out of pocket nor in a condition to shop around for alternative "providers" - once you have a life-threatening or emergency condition, no insurer will accept you as a new customer, you're stuck with whoever insured you BEFORE the condition developed, and you can only pray they will not cancel your coverage, as insurers are already doing and have said they will continue doing regardless of pleas by both consumers and government that they stop such actions.

As for "regulated, limited, delayed, depersonalized" health care, I'm guessing that you're either rich enough that you don't need health care insurance or have never actually tried to obtain it. Currently, the insurance company bean counters "regulate, limit, delay and depersonalize" my health care. When I try to get a doctor's appointment it can take up to two months or cost me a big chunk of money. The government can't possibly do too much worse and might possibly do better. It's a gamble 72 per cent of the country is willing to take.

[XLintLuvR]

The simplist way to stop one of these liars in their tracks is to simply ask this question: If you truly believe in competition, why do you have anything against the US Gov't getting in the competition? They've got the disadvantage of not being able to turn anyone away, not being able to kick anyone off just because they actually needed to make a claim. Be full of people who couldn't afford private insurance in the first place. Basically have to take every possible uninsurable person you can imagine. If the private insurers refuse to cover them, why whouldn't the gov't? The best question you can ask that'll leave them slack jawed.... There's only one thing that'll destroy competition no matter how many players you've got....what about collusion?

[SherryJarrell]

You think you should not pay for health insurance or for a doctor's appointment? If you don't pay for the coverage and medical care you consume, who does? Do you know why businesses began to offer health insurance as part of the benefits package to workers? Government interference in private industry. Lastly, do you seriously believe that if we had socialized medicine in this country that you would get better health care, faster service, at better prices? If so, there is really nothing left to talk about.

[sunshinerain]

Ms. Sherry Jarrell is an Assistant Professor of Business and Economics at Wake Forest.

[SeattleWill]

Sorry, but the long waits and the denied care are the rule under National Health Care. With an open market and private insurance, people can chose to take their business to the doctors who provide prompt appointments. Under a single payer system, there is no incentive to provide decent timely care and the rationing and waiting periods will kill many, many people.

[balthus]

If competition improves quality and reduces costs, why are the insurance companies so scared of it, and why are you so against it?

[schatsie]

Look, all he needs to do is

Open up Medicaid to ALL CHILDREN and work on determining which Medicaid system works the best...this will take a few years. but it might give us the information on Autism..

Open up Medicare to alll over 60.

VA benefits for all military..and families until they die

[Chaimirija]

and what about the parents of those children?

[CanadianBeef]

The spirit of the post is nice, but partial solutions, and complicated ones, will just play into the hands of the anti-reformers. If VA is goog enough for veterans, and Medicaid is good enough for kids (don't they call this S-CHIP?), then it's good enough for senators and the general public.

[escribacat]

And the rest of us ???