Obama continues health care push

President ObamaAs the issue that has come to define Obama’s first year in office continues through its final chapter, lawmakers are struggling to blend the House and Senate versions of the healthcare reform legislation. For his part, President Obama is pushing for passage and promising Americans that we will all begin reaping the benefits soon after the bill is signed into law.

"We are on the verge of passing health insurance reform that will finally offer Americans the security of knowing they'll have quality, affordable health care whether they lose their job, change jobs, move or get sick," said Obama.

He continued: "What every American should know is that once I sign health insurance reform into law, there are dozens of protections and benefits that will take effect this year."

Obama took to the air on his weekly radio address to speak to the doubts and reservations that Americans have surrounding the bill. In a struggle that has often been painted by Republicans as an effort to destroy a healthy insurance industry, Obama seems to be finding his rhetorical footing, reframing the debate to make the insurers the bad guys based on their criteria for rejecting or charging too much to people looking for insurance.

Obama promises that with the passage of his bill, "The worst practices of the insurance industry will be banned forever." Well, that’s a pretty big claim, but with costs rising and the ability of anyone with a preexisting condition to get coverage growing more and more difficult, the sentiment of the bill should continue to catch the ear of anyone who has had to deal with insurers and the prospect of losing or not getting insurance.

The biggest immediate effect would be guaranteeing insurance to people with pre-existing conditions, something that would revolutionize the insurance industry. For an industry that spends much of its time focused on risk management, meaning keeping people who are already sick out of their programs, what Obama is suggesting for law would get any of their case reviewers fired in an instant.

It would also mean a sense of security for the tens of millions of Americans who cannot get insurance that they need, and I think that is the point here that gets a bit lost. Will it cost more? Yes, of course. If you are going to insure and pay for medical care for 30 million more people, it’s going to cost some money and the first few years will be sketchy. But at the same time, it is an act of the nation that says we care about our own. Republicans fighting this legislation are clearly fighting for profits for an industry, not for the health of the people in the country, which is a ridiculous position when you step back and think about it. The big issues that still need to be worked out by leading Dems are taxes, abortion and the inclusion or replacement (like in the Senate version) of government-run insurance plan. To this end, Democrats are working diligently and senate Republicans have been shut out of the closed door negotiations. Let’s hope they come up with something soon.

Photo Credit: tsevis (via Flickr under CCL)