Obama Hosts ABC News At The White House For Health Care Forum (VIDEO)

ABC News: by Jake Tapper and Karen Travers

President Obama struggled to explain today whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face.

The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.

Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance.

Read the full story here.

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Watch the ABC-anchored forum with Obama at the White House below.

Comments

[420]

For all those who thing our system rocks you suck. I am getting raped with my PPO and you think it is funny. WE ARE THE ONL:Y Industrialized COUNTRY WITHOUT Universal HEALTHCARE!~ And we dare to call ourselves Christens. How self centered can we be. People who oppose this are just plain stupid

[420]

I have been raped for 52 years with this system. Lets try another. I drive a pinto and the Docs drive BMWs! I paid for that. I want the same coverage as my Senator

[420]

HOMOS the cause ot waits? What the F? I have a PPO! I wait 1-2 hours with a 15 minute talk with my Doctor and if I exceed my visits, already did with one I pay. One of the benefits that has changed in the last 7 years. I hate my PPO, I hate all PPOs

[beaker55]

I mean... can you just imagine health care administration run by the same folks who run the US Postal Service!!!!

[rf-hawaii]

Please sign me up. It would clearly be better than what I have now by a country mile.

[sc300nc]

Shall we settle for healthcare that's not good enough for our elected officials?

[AndyWright68]

In order to bring down prices there needs to be free market competition not the managed care by insurance companies and socialized care that we've had for the last 30 years.. The government will just undercut the insurance companies below what they can afford by stealing the taxpayers money. Hello Canadian system!

A better answer to health care is here: WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foXQbmZxWYY

[TimnySlagle]

He said that too. Last night he said 'The only way the government can compete unfairly is if we could print money..."

Hello? Isn't that what he's been doing ever since he took office?

[rf-hawaii]

Republican spin not withstanding, the Canadian health care system is far superior to the American system in every way.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-francis/republican-lies-about-can_b_201521.html

[judesuper]

Health care will not be reformed without the public option. If you don't want to select the public option for you or your family, then don't.

If the federal health care option is good enough for congress and federal employees, it will be good enough for me. Besides, congress gets health care for free for life on our dime. Hypocrites.

[Kyle1234]

Um, you do realize that most (if not all -- I am not sure) of the federal employees get there insurance through PRIVATE INSURANCE. My dad, a lifelong government employee, had Blue Cross Blue Shield.

[Coastalthinker2]

You are correct that Federal employees do receive insurance through a private insurance company. I think there might be a lot of misinformation in the public arena as to what Congress and Federal employees receive in regards to health care insurance. However, it must be pointed out that due to the large number of Federal employees, the government can negotiate better prices with the health care industry than for example a small business owner. As a result, they may negotiate a much better policy at a far better price. Numbers count with private insurers.

Single Payer Health Insurance is the way to go.

[dennisrs]

Not so with Congress.

[TimnySlagle]

You REALLY think we're going to be on the same health plan as the 535 members of Congress?

Keep dreaming!

[dennisrs]

Why shouldn't we, are they really any better than us?

[Pretrib]

Do you people really believe that private sector health insurance companies have a snowballs chance ... to compete against government offered health care. The public plan is funded by our tax dollars. The Gov't makes the health care rules. They can print money. They are the referee. Its like having the referee be on your sports team. BOs comments about this so called "competition" is so disingenous. The public option will demolish all private competition. The private sector needs to make a profit. What are all these health care employees going to do when they lose their jobs. Well, maybe some can work for another enormous, inefficient gov't bureaucracy.

[Coastalthinker2]

So, is your solution that government should do nothing, we should continue with our present system so that private health insurance companies can do as you say -- "the private sector needs to make a profit"? People should lose lives, end up bankrupt, and have lives completely disrupted so that private insurance companies can continue making a profit?

The private insurance companies will not go out of business even if we get Single Payer Health Insurance. They WILL have greater competition and may get innovative in supplemental plans offered such as for travel, etc. Plus, those who prefer private insurance can keep it no matter what public plan is out there. It will mean changes in our system which will be good for the largest number of people in the long term.

[AndyWright68]

You people really think the government can fix health care?

Can you show me anything the government has tried to fix and has been successful?

[Coastalthinker2]

Well, you could start by asking the 71% of seniors who are VERY SATISFIED with Medicare whether they want to lose it.

[AndyWright68]

Now there's your greed. They are hooked on free medical care. They don't want to lose it because it's free to them but cost us big money. If competition was allowed and prices came down they wouldn't need their socialized welfare medical care that we can't afford and that system is broke. Now, can you name anything the government has created that has been successful?

[TimnySlagle]

That depends on your definition of "fix."

The Fed can fix it, the same way you would fix a dog.

[sc300nc]

They've done a spot on job with the economy. And look how they transformed GM.

[TimnySlagle]

They "FIXED" GM

[AndyWright68]

Your being sarcastic, right? They've destroyed both.

[TimnySlagle]

He never answered the question. Would he take his wife outside the system?

Of COURSE he would.

Some are just more equal than others...

[clutchkill]

Hupp Po admins blocking posts? Seriously get over yourselves.

[sheikwil4]

People are expecting the President to create miracles with providing health care for all legal americans. Well he can't do it alone, he has the Democrats with their chicken butts scared to fight the low life ReThugs who don't want to help anyone but the wealthy. So as American citizen, we must support the President get a health care bill pass so that all Americans who want insurance can afford it, if not we will all continue to pay out of our butts for those that are not covered. Enough excuses have been made for years, it's not time to put or or don't complain, then when you are a loved one gets chronically ill and can't afford treatment because your insurance rates were so high you couldn't afford to buy it then don't complain. Everyone deserve the right to have health insurance in this country. We need to put pressure on our senators and congressmen from our states to come up with a plan that is affordable for all americans.

[TimnySlagle]

Nobody is expecting miracles, because we know he can't perform any.

If he COULD perform miracles, we wouldn't have a problem with Obamacare.

He can't, so we don't want it.

Next...

[constitutional 1]

Myth: There are between 40 million and 50 million uninsured Americans. President Obama referred to “46 million uninsured Americans” in May 2009.

Fact: Nearly 10 million (9.7) of the 45.7 million uninsured are “not a citizen.” That makes every media claim of uninsured Americans higher than 35.9 million is wrong.

Myth: The 40 million to 50 million uninsured cannot afford health insurance.

Fact: More than 17 million of the uninsured make at least $50,000 per year (the median household income of $50,233) – 8.4 million make $50,000 to $74,999 per year and 9.1 million make $75,000 or higher. Two economists working at the National Bureau of Economic Research concluded that 25 to 75 percent of those who do not purchase health insurance coverage “could afford to do so.”

Fact: An Urban Institute study found that 25 percent of the uninsured already qualify for government health insurance programs.

Fact: The Congressional Budget Office says that 45 percent of the uninsured will be insured within four months. CBO Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin also said that the frequent claim of 40+ million Americans lacking insurance is an “incomplete and potentially misleading picture of the uninsured population.”

Fact: Liberal non-profit Kaiser Family Foundation put the number of uninsured Americans who do not qualify for government programs and make less than $50,000 a year between 8.2 million and 13.9 million. 8.2 million figure includes only those uninsured for two years or more

[Waltb31]

Wow. Such drivel.
The fact is that most Americans with "affordable insurance" have policies with deductibles so high that they might as well not have insurance. Unreasonable limits and caps are -placed on policies as well
What you don't seem to understand is that you are one catastrophic illness away from financial ruin, insurance or not.
The fact that statistics might say someone has insurance means absolutely nothing in this market, at this time.
Even the "not a citizen" people you talk about get sick. Where do they end up? In your local ER, at a much higher rate. So you are paying even more than you would if you had a comprehensive plan.
Your policy is higher, your taxes are higher, your goods and services are higher because of the uninsured. The money comes from somewhere; where you ask?
...wait for it....you guessed it YOUR TAX DOLLARS!
You repugs have so little insight into the problem because you are getting fat of the stocks and salaries from for-profit health insurance companies.
This is a list of the top 15 Health insurance companies profits and CEO compensation:
http://www.aflcio.org/issues/healthcare/upload/hc_ceosalaries.pdf
This is where your health care dollars are going.

[constitutional 1]

I agree much the higher costs are a result of covering the uninsured (the hundred dollar tylenol at the hospital). However, increasing the taxes already payed to cover a slim portion of the insured and losing some of the benefits we have already is not worth it. My company and i pay a great deal to insure my family (not to mention catastrophic insurance), but my healthcare is still my choice.

[vanmungo]

This is all right-wing disinformation. If people feel they cannot afford heatlh insurance, they cannot afford it. If they qualified for Medicaid, they would be on it. Whatever the reasons, 1/6 of our population has NO medical coverage.

Even more appalling, 20,000 of those people DIE every year because they cannot afford to see a doctor.

Medical expenses are the cause of 62 percent of bankruptcies in the United States--and most of those are people WITH private medical insurance.

The United States is the only industrialized country that allows people to suffer and die for lack of medical coverage.

The United States has, on average, TWICE the per capita health care costs of the other industrialized nations, with WORSE health outcomes--they all have better life expectancy and lower infant-mortality rates.

The World Health Organization ranks the United States health-care system 37th in the world, dead last among industrialized nations and only two notches ahead of Cuba!

Our system is dysfunctional choas--soaring costs, huge gaps in coverage--barbarism in action.

Not by coincidence, the United States is the ONLY industrialized country that allows for-profit health insurance. All the others--with half our costs and better health outcomes--are nonprofit.

Think about it.

See the FAQ at www.pnhp.org

[dennisrs]

vanmugo--
In bankruptcies you normaly cannot write off taxes and fed student loans, since we all know there will be cost with gov run healthcare will a person be able to write those bills off? Who knows now, more "devil in the details" I'm sure.

"Medical expenses are the cause of 62 percent of bankruptcies in the United States"

[lj9283]

About three-quarters of the uninsured (73%) have gone without coverage for more than one year.

Over eight in ten uninsured come from working families—about two-thirds of the uninsured are individuals and families who are poor (incomes less than the federal poverty level or $21,203 for a family of four in 2007) or near-poor (with incomes between one and two times the poverty level). Among the uninsured who are below poverty ($21,203 for a family of four in 2007),

45.0 M Uninsured 10% make $84,000 or more for a family of four 8% make between $63,000 and $83,00 for a family of four 17% make between $42,000 and 62,000 for a family of four 37% make between $21,000 and $41,000 fo a family of four 29% make less than $21,000

The Uninsured: A Primer 2008 http://www.kff.org/uninsured/upload/7451-04.pdf

[dennisrs]

lj9283 They qualify for Medicade don't they?

" (incomes less than the federal poverty level or $21,203 for a family of four in 2007"

[dennisrs]

Facts become "Drivel" only in a Liberals mind does that happen.
Will gov healthcare have no deductables, unlikley, these Liberal folks think it will all be free.

[jdw1981]

"I can make a firm pledge, under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes."
Barack Obama

Well, Mr. President, we expect you to keep your word (for once). Unless you intend to break your word, there can be NO tax increase on the middle class to pay for your ill-conceived Corporate Welfare plan posing as a "health care" plan.

[dennisrs]

Also talked about transparency in his Government???
More broken promises. (read lies)

[bogues]

After reading many of the comments on this page, I feel hopeless more than ever before. Why can't we find a way to share ideas and differences without all the name calling and snide comments. I am guilty of it too and I am going to do my best to both comment and respond in a more thoughtful way. I hope that some how we can start to see one another as fellow Americans and find a way to get through these very hard times. We do not solve anything by hating those who disagree with us. We find answers when we recognize that compromising is the only real way to move forward. No one will get everything they want in health care but we shouldn't refuse to do anything because of that.

[sfsoma]

I don't know if you a referring to my comment "Can you tell me what a win for the American people means to you?" or not. My intention was to understand what your expectations of healthcare reform are. If I put it awkwardly and offended please accept my apology for doing so.

[Pretrib]

Citizens everywhere are waking up to the potential serious economic damage this admin is unleashing on our country. The 1 hour ABC News special "Primetime: Questions for the President: Prescription for America" (4.7 million viewers) had the fewest viewers in the 10PM hour. The special tied some 8PM comedy repeats as the lowest-rated program on a major broadcast network. The lack of balanced treatment by the liberal BO press is beginning to show in the ratings everywhere. Twice as many US Adults Poll as “Conservative” than “Liberal” through June 2009. Despite recent election results, political conservatism appears to be on the rise in the US. A Gallup poll has found that “conservatives” make up the largest ideological group and that “liberalism” has declined between January and May. The outrageous treatment of conservatives by the press and this admin. is coming back to haunt them. All three major networks (ABC, NBC, and CBS) recently suffered their lowest viewership ratings in decades.