criticizes 'scare tactics'
Addressing Some
Misconceptions in Montana
Posted by Katherine Brandon
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14TH, 2009 AT 5:36 PM
White House Website
The President is continuing to travel across the country to talk to
Americans about his plan for health insurance reform. In Belgrade,
Montana, today the
President had a strong message for insurance companies who
unfairly deny coverage to Americans: "We are held hostage at any
given moment by health insurance companies that deny coverage, or
drop coverage, or charge fees that people can't afford at a time
when they desperately need care. It's wrong. It's bankrupting
families, it's bankrupting businesses. And we are going to fix it
when we pass health insurance reform this year."
Some people who are happy with their current insurance plans may not
think health insurance reform will benefit them. However, as the
President explained, all of us can be victims of these unfair
practices. That’s why reform will benefit everyone – by providing
more security and stability for you and your family:
First, health insurance reform will mean a set of common-sense
consumer protections for folks with health insurance. So those of
you who have health insurance, this is what it will mean. Insurance
companies will no longer be able to cancel your coverage because you
get sick. (Applause.) That's what happened to Katie. It can't
happen anymore.
If you do the responsible thing, if you pay your premiums each month
so that you are covered in case of a crisis, when that crisis comes
-- if you have a heart attack or your husband finds out he has
cancer or your son or daughter is rushed to the hospital -- at the
time when you're most vulnerable and most frightened, you can't be
getting a phone call from your insurance company saying that your
insurance is revoked. It turns out, once you got sick, they scoured
your records looking for reasons to cancel your policy. They'd find
a minor mistake on your insurance form that you submitted years ago.
That can't be allowed to happen. (Applause.)
One report -- one report found that three insurance companies alone
had canceled 20,000 policies in this way over the past few years.
One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of
chemotherapy because his insurer discovered he hadn't reported gall
stones he didn't know about. True story. Because his treatment was
delayed, he died. A woman from Texas was diagnosed with an
aggressive form of breast cancer, was scheduled for a double
mastectomy. Three days before surgery, the insurance company
canceled the policy, in part because she forgot to declare a case of
acne. True story. By the time she had her insurance reinstated,
the cancer had more than doubled in size.
And this is personal for me. I'll never forget my own mother, as
she fought cancer in her final months, having to worry about whether
the insurance company would refuse to pay for her treatment. The
insurance company was arguing that she should have known that she
had cancer when she took her new job -- even though it hadn't been
diagnosed yet. If it could happen to her, it could happen to any
one of us. It's wrong. And when we pass health insurance reform,
we're going to put a stop to it once and for all. That is what Max
Baucus is working on. (Applause.)
Number two: Insurance
companies will be prohibited from denying coverage because of your
medical history. A recent report found that in the past three
years, more than 12 million Americans were discriminated against by
insurance companies because of a preexisting condition. No one
holds these companies accountable for these practices. But we will.
And insurance companies will no longer be able to place an arbitrary
cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a
lifetime. (Applause.) And that will help -- that will help 3,700
households in Montana. We'll place a limit on how much you can be
charged for out-of-pocket expenses, as well, because no one in
America should be broke when they get sick. (Applause.) And
finally -- finally, we'll require insurance companies to cover
routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and
colonoscopies, because that saves money and that saves lives.
(Applause.)
So that's what health care reform is all about. Right now we've got
a health care system that all too often works better for the
insurance companies than it does for the American people. We want
to change that.
The President was eager to take on questions from those who are
critical of his plan. One skeptic wanted to know how health reform
would be paid for without raising taxes on the middle class. The
President explained that while we can’t get something from nothing,
the money will not come off the backs of the middle class:
Look, you are absolutely right that I can't cover another 46 million
people for free. You're right. I can't do that. So we're going to
have to find some resources. If people who don't have health
insurance are going to get some help, then we're going to have to
find money from somewhere.
Now, what I've identified, and most of the committees have
identified and agreed to, including Max Baucus's committee, is that
there -- overall this bill will cost -- let's say it costs $800
billion to $900 billion. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of
money. That's over 10 years, though, all right? So that's about
$90 billion -- $80 billion to $90 billion a year.
About two-thirds of it -- two-thirds -- can be obtained by doing
some of the things I already mentioned, like eliminating subsidies
to insurance companies. So you're right, that's real money. I just
think I would rather be giving that money to the young lady here who
doesn't have health insurance and giving her some help, than giving
it to insurance companies that are making record profits.
(Applause.) Now, you may disagree. I just think that's a good way
to spend our money.
There’s a misconception floating around that reform will harm small
business, but the President outlined how his plan will help, not
hurt, small businesses:
So there are two ways we want to help. Number one, we want the
small business to be able to buy into the exchange. That allows you
then to use the purchasing power of everybody who is in the exchange
to get the best rates from the insurance companies. That right away
would drive down the premiums that you'd have to pay.
And the second thing we want to do is for employers who are doing
the right thing and providing health insurance that is real, then we
want to give you a tax break so that it's easier for you to make
your bottom line.
Now, this is something that a lot of small businesses would benefit
from. Nobody is talking about it. And since small businesses are
the place where you're seeing the fastest job growth, it makes sense
for us to provide this kind of protection. This, I guarantee you,
will end up being an important component of whatever we pass out of
Washington.
The President and his administration will continue to take these
questions head on, keep watching and keep an eye on our
Reality Check site to
sort out fact from fiction.
Obama criticizes 'scare tactics' in health care debate
By LIZ SIDOTI Associated Press Writer
Aug 15, 2009, 6:50 PM EDT
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) --
President Barack Obama on Saturday criticized what he termed as the
"scare tactics" of opponents to health care reform. He told a town hall
meeting "what is truly scary is if we do nothing" to solve the nation's
health care problems.
Obama said Americans no longer should be "held hostage by health
insurance companies" that deny coverage for various reasons.
And he attempted to deflect some of the sharpest criticism of the
health care bill before Congress from those who say it would mean
government control over health care system.
"I don't want government bureaucrats meddling in our health care -
but the point is I don't want insurance companies' bureaucrats meddling
in our health care either," Obama declared, unleashing a cheer from the
audience.
Obama's focus on insurance companies, a theme of earlier town hall
meetings in Montana and New Hampshire as well in recent days, was an
attempted to regain the upper hand in the health care debate and deflect
the impact of increasing vocal and organized critics.
The president said the current health care system and the policies of
insurance companies are "hurting too many families and businesses." And
he vowed to change that, predicting health care reform legislation will
be passed by Congress this year.
"Because we're getting close, the fight is getting fierce" critics
are fighting back with by trying "to scare the American people. "Because
of all the scare tactics out there, what is truly scary is if we do
nothing," he said.
Obama sells health care plan in U.S. West
2009-08-15 05:37:13
WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) --
U.S. President Barack Obama began a tour Friday to sell his health
care reform plan in the country's west.
At a town hall-style meeting in Belgrade, Montana, in the
afternoon, Obama defended his plan and reiterated pledge not to raise
taxes on those making 250,000 U.S. dollars or less a year.
He will hold another event on Saturday in Grand Junction,
Colorado, to drill up support for this centerpiece of his domestic
agenda.
"We'll do some events not yet announced over the course of the
next few days after that," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was quoted
by CNN as saying Friday.
The White House, and many Democrats in Congress, hope that by
building support in the West, the president can start to regain upper
hand in the health care debate.
In his vision, Obama aims to bring down health care costs and
provide medical insurance to many of the more than 45 million Americans
currently without coverage.
His plan also calls for a government-run health insurance program
to compete with private insurers.
A government-run health insurance program is one of the most
contentious features of the Obama health reform proposals, with
Republicans suggesting that such a plan could force health care
providers out of business, forcing Americans to switch doctors.
The president's plan is the first major push for health care
reform since former President Bill Clinton's failed attempts in 1993 and
1994.
Recent polls show Americans are growingly skeptical of the
president's plan.
Editor: Yan
