World

Obama To Address Congress About Health Care

by Annina Bergman | September 7, 2009 at 10:48 am

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U.S. President Barack Obama will be delivering a speech regarding the proposed health care reform on Wednesday, in a rare joint session of Congress.

Obama's proposed health care reform has been met with storng opposition by Republicans and some Democrats, who have threatened to oppose the bill if it includes a public option. The public option would give working Americans coverage similar to Medicare, which covers seniors. The President has been forced to change his stance on public health care due to strong opposition to the plan, and it is currently unclear whether the public option is "on or off the table", according to an anonymous official who spoke with the Associated Press.

According to AFP (agence France-Presse), Obama will let lawmakers and members of the public know exactly where he stands and what has to be done when it comes to the health care reform. In an interview with ABC News' This Week White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that the President wants a public option to provide "choice and competition, to provide a check on insurance companies". A transcript of the interview is available on Time.com.

Earlier this year, President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurancy Reauthorization Act, which gave 11 million children health insurance.

Of the 30 industrialized countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, only Mexico, Turkey and the United States fail to achieve universal coverage.

President Obama is committed to working with Congress to pass comprehensive health reform this year in order to control rising health care costs, guarantee choice of doctor, and assure high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans. The Administration believes that comprehensive health reform should:

Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government

Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of health care costs

Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans

Invest in prevention and wellness

Improve patient safety and quality of care

Assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans

Maintain coverage when you change or lose your job

End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions