WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama, eager to sign a health care overhaul bill into law, on Saturday highlighted some of the changes that would come in the first year and permanently ban “the worst practices of the insurance industry.”
Obama acknowledged it would take several years — until 2014 in some instances — for some of the changes to be fully implemented, and that has disappointed consumers and their advocates.
He used his weekly radio and Internet address to play up the brighter side of the overhaul he hopes to sign in time for his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in a matter of weeks.
“Now, it’ll take a few years to fully implement these reforms in a responsible way,” the president said. “But 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 said people with pre-existing illnesses or conditions will be able to buy affordable health insurance, children with such conditions will no longer be denied coverage, small-business owners who can’t afford to cover their employees will get tax credits to help them do so, and insurance companies will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers and will be prohibited from dropping coverage when someone becomes ill.
“In short, once I sign health insurance reform into law, doctors and patients will have more control over their health care decisions and insurance company bureaucrats will have less,” Obama said.
“All told, these changes represent the most sweeping reforms and toughest restrictions on insurance companies that this country has ever known.” House and Senate versions of the overhaul would require nearly all Americans to get coverage and provide subsidies for many who can’t afford the cost, but they differ on the details. Among the remaining sticking points are whom to tax, how many people to cover, how to restrict taxpayer funding for abortion and whether illegal immigrants should be allowed to use their own money to buy coverage in new insurance markets.
Obama had several meetings with Democratic lawmakers at the White House this week to help resolve those differences.
In one instance, he signaled to House Democratic leaders that they must drop their opposition to taxing high-end insurance plans to pay to extend coverage to millions of uninsured people. The tax, which is in the Senate bill, is largely opposed by House Democrats and organized labor.
Obama and lawmakers agreed to bypass formal negotiations as they reach for a deal.
As Congress struggles for a final health care deal, new estimates released Saturday said the Senate’s plan to expand coverage to 34 million more Americans would raise costs slightly.
