Obama Pushes for Health Reform at Summit

March 5, 2009 — President Barack Obama cast his sweeping health care reform
plans in terms of help for the faltering economy at a White House forum.
The president told a group of lawmakers, doctors, health industry
representatives, and patient advocates that controlling health costs was vital
to getting American households and businesses back on their feet. He said the
administration will seek to enact new laws expanding health coverage and
controlling costs “by the end of this year.”
“By a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is
the skyrocketing cost of health care. It’s not even close,” the president
told the group in an East Room speech at the beginning of the conference.
Obama has already proposed to set aside more than $630 billion over the next
decade to help fund reform efforts, which could include subsidized insurance
for middle-income people who can’t afford premiums and an expanded coverage
through Medicaid or Medicare.
Beyond that, reform plans remain sketchy. Thursday’s White House forum was
more of a confidence-building exercise than a policy debate. Lawmakers from
both parties met with White House officials, business CEOs, consumer advocates,
and medical society presidents to air their priorities in front of TV
cameras.
Bipartisan Outreach
White House officials say they’re mindful of the failure of a Clinton
Administration health reform effort in 1994. Lawmakers, including many in
President Clinton’s own party, rebelled when the White House tried to push
through sweeping reforms with what was seen as little consultation from Capitol
Hill or industry stakeholders.
“We are not going to Congress with a preset plan,” said Melody
Barnes, the White House domestic policy advisory. “The process has to be
transparent,” she said in an interview with the C-SPAN television
network.
Participants in organized side discussions at the conference talked about
topics that included preventive medicine and wellness programs, reform of
payment incentives for doctors and hospitals, expansion of medical research,
and improvement of childhood nutrition.
“We actually have to put prevention into the system from the
beginning,” said Daniel Smith, president and CEO of the American Cancer
Society Cancer Action Network.
The White House outreach effort earned early — though guarded — praise
from key Republicans, many of whom were instrumental in opposing the Clinton
Administration’s reform efforts.
“If this is real, that’s great,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas,
senior Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which presides
over large parts of the health care industry. “If this is a real process
and we’re listened to then folks like me will really participate,” he
said.
Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., senior Republican on the Senate Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions Committee, said the political parties already agree on 80%
of the policies needed to control health costs and expand access to
insurance.
“The other 20% is the part that’s been in the weeds for the last 12 or
15 years,” he said. “What you have to do with that other 20% is find a
third way and that’s what we’re going to have to do on health care.”