Health Care Address Not Without Partisan Props

BOSTON, M.A.-In a nationally televised joint session of Congress on Wednesday night, President Obama delivered an address on the sensationalized topic of health care reform. “I am not the first president to take up the issue of health care,” the president declared,  “but I am determined to be the last.”

Also in attendance were foreign ambassadors to the United States and family members of the late Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy, including his widow Vicki who was seated beside first lady Michelle Obama. During Obama’s eulogistic mention of Senator Kennedy, a life-long advocate of health care reform, the audience was notably quiet.

However, adversaries of reform with Republican Congressmen at the forefront, responded throughout the remainder of the speech with vocal objection and by brandishing printed copies of their party’s proposal. Obama prefaced his discussion by addressing what he considered “key controversies.” 

“Such a charge would be laughable if it weren’t so cynical and irresponsible,” the president said of the death panel rumor, according to which government officials would exempt certain medical conditions from health care spending. In a remark specified for recipients of Medicare and Medicaid, Obama insisted that funding for those services would be untouched, calling them a “sacred trust.”

Much of the speech centered on the practical aspects of the proposed reform. Obama emphasized the introduction of a publicly sponsored option available to millions of uninsured Americans who could not afford health care or who were denied coverage by insurance companies due to pre-existing medical conditions or high-risk classifications.

Describing his market-themed ideal of an “insurance exchange,” President Obama sought to justify inevitable pressure on private providers by saying it would deter unethical excesses from insurance companies, to the consumer benefit of lower premiums.

Obama used the analogy of private versus public college options to explain that the private industry would not be compromised and those who could afford private insurance would retain their rights of selection.

“The health care problem is our deficit,” the president said prior to describing his plans for payment. Pledging to finance reform by eliminating waste and creating savings within the health care system, the president claimed that the public insurance option would not be taxpayer subsidized. “I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to the deficit,” he repeated.

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~ by thedailydrawl on September 13, 2009.