VIDEO OF THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS
Remarks of President Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Over the past few days, I’ve been traveling through the Middle East and
Europe working to renew our alliances, enhance our common security, and
propose a new partnership between the United States and the Muslim world.
But even as I’m abroad, I’m firmly focused on the other pressing
challenges we face – including the urgent need to reform our health care
system. Even as we speak, Congress is preparing to introduce and debate
health reform legislation that is the product of many months of effort
and deliberation. And if you’re like any of the Americans I’ve met
across this country who know all too well that the soaring costs of
health care make our current course unsustainable, I imagine you’ll be
watching their progress closely.
I’m talking about the families I’ve met whose spiraling premiums and
out-of-pocket expenses are pushing them into bankruptcy or forcing them
to go without the check-ups or prescriptions they need. Business owners
who fear they’ll be forced to choose between keeping their doors open or
covering their workers. Americans who rightly worry that the ballooning
costs of Medicare and Medicaid could lead to fiscal catastrophe down the
road.
Simply put, the status quo is broken. We cannot continue this way. If
we do nothing, everyone’s health care will be put in jeopardy. Within a
decade, we’ll spend one dollar out of every five we earn on health care –
and we’ll keep getting less for our money.
That’s why fixing what’s wrong with our health care system is no longer a
luxury we hope to achieve – it’s a necessity we cannot postpone any
longer.
The growing consensus around that reality has led an unprecedented
coalition to come together for change. Unlike past attempts at reforming
our health care system, everyone is at the table – patient’s advocates
and health insurers; business and labor; Democrats and Republicans alike.
A few weeks ago, some of these improbable allies committed to cut
national health care spending by two trillion dollars over the next
decade. What makes this so remarkable is that it probably wouldn’t have
happened just a few short years ago. But today, at this historic
juncture, even old adversaries are united around the same goal: quality,
affordable health care for all Americans.
Now, I know that when you bring together disparate groups with differing
views, there will be lively debate. And that’s a debate I welcome. But
what we can’t welcome is reform that just invests more money in the
status quo – reform that throws good money after bad habits.
We must attack the root causes of skyrocketing health care costs. Some
of these costs are the result of unwarranted profiteering that has no
place in our health care system, and in too many communities, folks are
paying higher costs without receiving better care in return. And yet we
know, for example, that there are places like the Mayo Clinic in
Minnesota, the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and other institutions that
offer some of the highest quality of care in the nation at some of the
lowest costs in the nation. We should learn from their successes and
promote the best practices, not the most expensive ones. That’s how
we’ll achieve reform that fixes what doesn’t work, and builds on what
does.
This week, I conveyed to Congress my belief that any health care reform
must be built around fundamental reforms that lower costs, improve
quality and coverage, and also protect consumer choice. That means if
you like the plan you have, you can keep it. If you like the doctor you
have, you can keep your doctor, too. The only change you’ll see are
falling costs as our reforms take hold.
I also made it very clear to Congress that we must develop a plan that
doesn’t add to our budget deficit. My budget included an historic down
payment on reform, and we’ll work with Congress to fully cover the costs
through rigorous spending reductions and appropriate additional
revenues. We’ll eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in our health care
system, but we’ll also take on key causes of rising costs – saving
billions while providing better care to the American people.
All across America, our families are making hard choices when it comes to
health care. Now, it’s time for Washington to make the right ones. It’s
time to deliver. And I am absolutely convinced that if we keep working
together and living up to our mutual responsibilities; if we place the
American people’s interests above the special interests; we will seize
this historic opportunity to finally fix what ails our broken health care
system, and strengthen our economy and our country now and for decades to
come.