Obama’s Health-Care Plan in His Own Words
This is an excerpt of remarks Barack Obama made yesterday in North Carolina criticizing McCain’s plan and then outlining his own:
That is why, if I’m elected President, we’re going to fix our health care system. We’re going to take on the drug and insurance companies; reduce costs for families and businesses; and finally provide affordable, accessible health care for every American.
We’ll start by lowering premiums by as much as $2,500 per family – and we’ll do it by taking the following five steps to lower costs throughout our health care system.
First, we’ll take on the drug companies, tell them thanks but no thanks for the overpriced drugs, and take steps to lower prices so people can afford them. And we’ll tell the insurance companies: no more discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions. It’s not right, and we won’t stand for it.
Second, we’ll focus on prevention. We’ll make sure insurance companies cover services like weight loss programs and smoking-cessation programs to help people avoid costly, debilitating health problems in the first place.
Third, we’ll reduce waste and inefficiency by using the latest technologies to move our health care system into the 21st century. This will save tens of billions a year, reduce medical errors, and let doctors and nurses spend less time with paperwork and more time with patients.
Fourth, we’ll reduce the cost of our care by improving the quality of our care. We’ll track which drugs and procedures work best and reward providers not just for the quantity of care they provide – but for the quality of outcomes for their patients.
Fifth, we’ll help businesses and workers by picking up the tab for some of the most expensive illnesses. Under my plan, the federal government will pay for part of these catastrophic cases, which means lower premiums for you – and less money out of your pocket.
But cost-cutting isn’t enough. Because today, in the year 2008, 45 million Americans still don’t have any health insurance at all. This is one of the great moral crises of our time. It’s not who we are – and it’s not who we have to be.
That’s why my plan will cover all Americans. And unlike Senator McCain, I’ll do it by building on – rather than dismantling – our current, workplace-based system. So if you have insurance you like, you keep that insurance. If you have a doctor you like, you keep that doctor. The only thing that changes for you is that your health care costs will go down.
But if you don’t have insurance, or don’t like your insurance, you’ll be able to choose from the same type of quality private plans as every federal employee – from a postal worker here in North Carolina to a Congressman in Washington. No one will be turned away because of a pre-existing condition. If you change jobs, this insurance will go with you. And if you can’t afford this insurance, you’ll receive a tax credit to help pay for it.
We’ll also provide substantial help for small businesses in the form of tax credits that will cover up to 50 percent of the cost of insuring their employees. This will help them create not just new jobs, but good jobs – jobs with health care that stay right here in America.
Let’s hope that tomorrow night’s debate affords him the opportunity to present his plan in this manor.
