Obama's Health Care Plan Explained

On Wednesday July 22, 2009 President Obama held a press conference to explain his proposed health care plan and what was being considered in Congress. This film was shot at a Pasadena, California rally during and immediately after that conference.

President Obama stated that without a single payer system it is impossible to insure 100% of all Americans. He implied that a public option plan would be acceptable and that something along that line was in the works in Congress. He also stated that Republicans are putting out misinformation about health care and these proposed plans.

Republicans are doing everything they can to delay and ultimately block health care reform. They have succeeded in putting off a Senate vote until after an August summer recess. Their tactic is to use this time to wage a campaign to garner support to block health care reform. We can expect to see a lot of misinformation and arguments in the media and on the internet pushing their case.

President Obama stated in the conference that America cannot afford to do nothing. There must be some kind of meaningful health care reform in order to get the deficit and the economy under control and out from under the runaway costs of health care and the monopolistic control that the health care industry has on the country.

The proposed plan will reduce costs and the deficit, and will not increase spending as his opponents sometimes argue. He stated he will not sign a bill that does not reduce health care costs and that does not reduce costs to the American people, meaning the average middle class citizen. He stated that the present bill has a provision to tax people who make over one million dollars to help pay for health care.

It is no secret that numerous Republicans and "blue dog" Democrats oppose health care reform. It has been reported that many of them receive campaign contributions from the health care industry, which is effectively a payoff to block reform. Obviously these Congressmen and/or their campaign contributors fall into the over one million dollar income category and stand to be taxed under the proposed reform bill. So it is in their personal interest to block this. The health care industry opposes reform because they will have to become competitive under a public option plan that allows people to choose between insurance companies and a government plan, an option that members of Congress enjoy for their families.

The President also stated the following:

"Now, there have been reports just over the last couple of days of insurance companies making record profits -- right now. At a time when everybody is getting hammered, they're making record profits, and premiums are going up. What's the constraint on that? How can you ensure that those costs aren't being passed on to employers or passed on to employees, the American people, ordinary middle-class families, in a way that over time is going to make them broke? Well, part of the way is to make sure that there's some competition out there. So that's the idea."

The full White House conference video and text is available here:
Text: http://tinyurl.com/mujehv
Video: http://tinyurl.com/nqxnkp

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