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September 8, 2009

Obama Continues Health Care Push
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President meets with top Democrats one day before delivering major
address on the issue 
U.S. President Barack Obama is meeting with top Congressional Democrats
as he continues to push for health care reform, one day before
delivering a major address to Congress on the issue. President Barack
Obama speaks at an AFL-CIO Labor Day picnic in Cincinnati, 07 Sep
2009Mr. Obama
hosts House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
at the White House Tuesday, as lawmakers return to Congress after a
month-long summer recess. The president has made health care
reform a top domestic priority. But his proposals have faced fierce
opposition from some Republican lawmakers and members of the public.
Monday,
Mr. Obama said it is time for lawmakers to end the health care debate
and approve a final bill for his signature. He told America's largest
labor union federation - the AFL-CIO - that it is "time to act and
get this thing done."He reaffirmed his support for the most
controversial aspect of the reform proposals, an optional
government-run insurance plan that would compete with private insurers.
Mr. Obama is trying to regain the momentum on
the issue after intense and emotional protests over health care reform
at town hall meetings across the country in recent weeks. In
his speech Monday, the president also lashed out at opponents of his
initiatives, accusing them of spreading false information because, he
said, their answer to fixing health care "is to do nothing."The
protests, along with stern opposition by Republican lawmakers, have
taken a toll on his job approval ratings. In
his speech to Congress Wednesday night, Mr. Obama is expected to
reaffirm his support for the government-run health insurance plan,
which is supported by many House Democrats but has been a central
focus of critics. House Speaker Pelosi has said the House will
not pass a health care bill that does not include a public insurance
option. But House and Senate Republicans have said the plan amounts to
a government takeover, and even some moderate House and Senate
Democrats have voiced concerns. Meanwhile, Democratic Senator
Max Baucus, who chairs the powerful Senate Finance Committee, has
introduced a proposal aimed at attracting bipartisan support. The
proposal, which is estimated to cost some $900 billion over 10 years,
would expand Medicare coverage to millions of low-income Americans, and
create health insurance exchanges that would provide consumers with
information on various plans and prices. Instead of the public
option, the Baucus plan calls for creating non-profit health insurance
co-operatives to compete with private insurers. The Montana senator is
calling for imposing large fees on health insurance companies to
finance his plan.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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