Posted on 07/15/2009 3:23:33 PM PDT by Cindy
Notes: The following text is a quote:
THE BRIEFING ROOM
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release July 15, 2009
Statement by the President on the Health Care Reform Legislation Passed Today by the Senate HELP Committee
"Today, thanks to the unyielding passion and inspiration provided by Senator Edward Kennedy, the HELP committee he chairs has produced a proposal that will finally lower health care costs, provide better care for patients, and ensure fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry.
Like the legislation produced by the House of Representatives, this proposal would offer Americans quality, affordable health care that is there when they need it. No longer will insurance companies be able to deny coverage based on a pre-existing medical condition. No longer will Americans have to worry about their health insurance if they lose their job, change their job, or open a new business.
This proposal will bring down costs, expand coverage, and increase choice. Through a health insurance exchange, families and small businesses will be able to compare prices and quality so that they can choose the health care plan that best suits their needs. Among the choices that would be available in the exchange would be a public health insurance option that would make health care affordable by increasing competition, providing more choices, and keeping the insurance companies honest.
This proposal would also control rising costs by investing in preventive care and wellness programs, rooting out waste and fraud in the system, and changing the incentives that automatically equate the most expensive care with the best care.
When this proposal is combined with other proposals that the Senate Finance Committee is working on, it’s estimated that health reform will cover 97% of all Americans.
The HELP committee’s success should give us hope, but it should not give us pause. It should instead provide the urgency for both the House and Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess. I want to commend Senator Kennedy, Senator Dodd, as well as Senators Harkin, Mikulski, Bingaman, and Murray on the leadership they’ve shown and the foundation they’ve laid to reform our health care system."
###
What passed today? where?
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-Health-Care-Reform/
THE BRIEFING ROOM
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release July 15, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT ON HEALTH CARE REFORM
Rose Garden
1:11 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. I am pleased to be joined by not only some of my former colleagues and outstanding legislators, but also by nurses. And I think I’ve said this before — I really like nurses. (Laughter.) And so to have them here today on behalf of such a critical issue at a critical time is extraordinary.
Let me introduce a few of them. We’ve got Becky Patton, who’s the President of the American Nurses Association here. Raise your hand, Becky. We have Dr. Mary Wakefield, who’s a nurse and happens to be the Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration at HHS, our highest-ranking nurse in the administration. We’ve got Keisha Walker, an RN, currently a senior research nurse at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health. We have Dr. Rebecca Wiseman, nurse and assistant professor of adult health at the University of Maryland School of Nursing. And I’m also joined by Representative Johnson, Representative Capps, Representative McCarthy, Chairman George Miller, and my friend Chris Dodd.
I am very pleased to be joined today by the representatives from the American Nurses Association on behalf of 2.9 million registered nurses in America — men and women who know as well as anyone the urgent need for health reform.
Now, as I said before, I have a longstanding bias towards nurses. When Sasha, our younger daughter, was diagnosed with a dangerous case of meningitis when she was just three months old, we were terrified. And we were appreciative of the doctors, but it was the nurses who walked us through the entire process to make sure that Sasha was okay.
When both my daughters were born, the obstetrician was one of our best friends, but we saw her for about 10 minutes in each delivery. The rest of the time what we saw were nurses who did an incredible amount of work in not only taking care of Michelle but also caring for a nervous husband and then later for a couple of fat little babies.
So I know how important nurses are, and the nation does too. Nurses aren’t in health care to get rich. Last I checked, they’re in it to care for all of us, from the time they bring a new life into this world to the moment they ease the pain of those who pass from it. If it weren’t for nurses, many Americans in underserved and rural areas would have no access to health care at all.
And that’s why it’s safe to say that few understand why we have to pass reform as intimately as our nation’s nurses. They see firsthand the heartbreaking costs of our health care crisis. They hear the same stories that I’ve heard across this country — of treatment deferred or coverage denied by insurance companies; of insurance premiums and prescriptions that are so expensive they consume a family’s entire budget; of Americans forced to use the emergency room for something as simple as a sore throat just because they can’t afford to see a doctor.
And they understand that this is a problem that we can no longer defer. We can’t kick the can down the road any longer. Deferring reform is nothing more than defending the status quo — and those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is that they’re defending. Over the last decade, health insurance premiums have risen three times faster than wages. Deductibles and out-of-pocket costs are skyrocketing. And every single day we wait to act, thousands of Americans lose their insurance, some turning to nurses in emergency rooms as their only recourse.
So make no mistake, the status quo on health care is not an option for the United States of America. It’s threatening the financial stability of families, of businesses, and of government. It’s unsustainable, and it has to change.
I know a lot of Americans who are satisfied with their health care right now are wondering what reform would mean for them, so let me be clear: If you like your doctor or health care provider, you can keep them. If you like your health care plan, you can keep that too.
But here’s what else reform will mean for you — and this is for people who have health insurance: You will save money. If you lose your job, change your job, or start a new business, you’ll still be able to find quality health insurance that you can afford. If you have a preexisting medical condition, no insurance company will be able to deny you coverage. You won’t have to worry about being priced out of the market. You won’t have to worry about one illness leading your family into financial ruin. That’s what reform means, not just for the uninsured but for the people who have health insurance right now.
The naysayers and the cynics still doubt that we can do this. But it wasn’t too long ago that those same naysayers doubted that we’d be able to make real progress on health care reform. And thanks to the work of key committees in Congress, we’re now closer to the goal of health reform than we have ever been.
Yesterday, the House introduced its health reform proposal. Today, thanks to the unyielding passion and inspiration of our friend Ted Kennedy, and to the bold leadership of Senator Chris Dodd, the Senate HELP Committee reached a major milestone by passing a similarly strong proposal for health reform. It’s a plan that was debated for more than 50 hours and that, by the way, includes 160 Republican amendments — a hopeful sign of bipartisan support for the final product, if people are serious about bipartisanship.
Both proposals will take what’s best about our system today and make it the basis for our system tomorrow — reducing costs, raising quality, and ensuring fair treatment of consumers by the insurance industry. Both include a health insurance exchange, a marketplace that will allow families and small businesses to compare prices, services, and the quality, so they can choose the plan that best suits their needs. And among the choices available would be a public health insurance option that would make health care more affordable by increasing competition, providing more choices, and keeping insurance companies honest. Both proposals will offer stability and security to Americans who have coverage today, and affordable options to those who don’t.
This progress should make us hopeful, but it can’t make us complacent. It should instead provide the urgency for both the House and the Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess.
America’s nurses need us to succeed, not just on behalf of the patients that they sometimes speak for. If we invest in prevention, nurses won’t have to treat diseases or complications that could have been avoided. If we modernize health records, we’ll streamline the paperwork that can take up more than one-third of the average nurse’s day, freeing them to spend more time with their patients. If we make their jobs a little bit easier, we can attract and train the young nurses we need to make up a nursing shortage that’s only getting worse. Nurses do their part every time they check another healthy patient out of the hospital. It’s now time for us to do our part.
I just want to be clear: We are going to get this done. Becky and I were talking in the Oval Office. Becky just pointed out, we need to buck up people a little bit here. (Laughter.) And that’s what nurses do all the time — they buck up patients, sometimes they buck up some young resident who doesn’t quite know what they’re doing. (Laughter.) You look at Becky, you can tell she knows what she’s doing. And what she’s saying is it’s time for us to buck up — Congress, this administration, the entire federal government — to be clear that we’ve got to get this done.
Our nurses are on board. The American people are on board. It’s now up to us. We can do what we’ve done for so long and defer tough decisions for another day — or we can step up and meet our responsibilities. In other words, we can lead. We can look beyond the next news cycle and the next election to the next generation, and come together to build a system that works not just for these nurses, but for the patients they care for; for doctors and hospitals; for families and businesses — and for our very future as a nation.
I’m confident it’s going to get done because we’ve got a great team behind us. And we are going to be continually talking about this for the next two to three weeks until we’ve got a bill off the Senate and we’ve got a bill out of the House. Then we’ll deserve a few weeks’ rest before we come back and finally get a bill done so we can sign it right here in the Rose Garden.
Thank you, everybody.
END 1:21 P.M. EDT?
remember the distractions and diversions
What a load of bald face lies.
Between cap and trade, Health care reform and HIGH TAXES we’re done.
It’s the crap the HELP committee passed out of committee.
Lies, lies, lies.
Through a health insurance exchange, families and small businesses will be able to compare prices and quality so that they can choose the health care plan that best suits their needs.
Lies, lies, lies.
Obama lies, people will die.
Only passed out of committee NOT on the house or senate floor.
Absolutely right. Some Americans are so stupid it is mind boggling. Listening to Hannity this afternoon, I heard some caller say he owned a business and could not afford to give his employees insurance, and he is happy that govt will. Fool doesn’t realize govt will make him pay for it whether or not he can afford it, and fine if if he doesn’t pay.
1,018 pages of government-controlled, expensive-beyond-belief Obama health care that will tax small business 8% if they don’t provide employees with health care, increased taxes on cigarettes and tons of other stuff, plus the income tax penalty on the achievers. Get on the stick NOW and hammer away at your feeble congresscritters. This is outrageous!
obama: “And I think I’ve said this before — I really like nurses. (Laughter.) And so to have them here today on behalf of such a critical issue at a critical time is extraordinary.”
Yeah right. He’s got the California Nurses Association and the SEIU faction of nurses there today as if they represent and speak for ALL nurses. obama is a liar and a fraud and I despise him.
#
WHITEHOUSE YouTube account:
http://www.youtube.com/user/whitehouse
#
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHCQc-wwzDQ
“President Obama Holds Online Town Hall on Health Reform”
(Added July 1, 2009)
I think this is a clever ploy because many will conclude it is a done deal and stop speaking against it.
More bull crap ejaculated from President Alinsky.
#
Blog:
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/congress-should-be-required-to-enroll-in-obamacare/
“Congress should be required to enroll in Obamacare”
By Michelle Malkin • July 15, 2009 03:18 PM
SNIPPET: “If socialized medicine is good enough to force on American taxpayers, it’s good enough for Congress. I like this House resolution from Rep. John Fleming requiring lawmakers in Washington to enroll in any government-run health plan it decides to foist on the rest of us.
Read and sign the petition supporting House Resolution 615 here:”
ping for light reading after dinner.
These conniving scumbag fascist. Bold faced lies to America.
Quote:
http://fleming.house.gov/images/FLEMING%20HEALTH%20CARE%20RESOLUTION.pdf
.....................................................................
(Original Signature of Member)
111THCONGRESS
1STSESSION
H. RES. ll
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Members who
vote in favor of the establishment of a public, federal government run
health insurance option are urged to forgo their right to participate
in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and agree
to enroll under that public option.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Mr. FLEMING(for himself, Mr. WILSONof South Carolina, Mr. BURTONof
Indiana, Mr. BARTLETT, Mr. LINDER, Mr. GARRETTof New Jersey, Mr.
BLUNT, Mr. SCALISE, and Mr. ALEXANDER) submitted the following res-
olution; which was referred to the Committee on
lllllllllllllll
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
Members who vote in favor of the establishment of a
public, federal government run health insurance option
are urged to forgo their right to participate in the Fed-
eral Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) and
agree to enroll under that public option.
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-1
resentatives that Members who vote in favor of the estab-2
lishment of a public, federal government run health insur-3
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ance option are urged to forgo their right to participate 1
in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program 2
(FEHBP) and agree to enroll under that public option. 3
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blog:
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/15/warning-more-obamacaremsm-theater-on-the-way/
“Warning: More Obamacare/MSM theater on the way”
By Michelle Malkin • July 15, 2009 06:27 AM
Copy of report:
#
blog:
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/07/14/document-drop-cbo-scores-the-health-care-takeover/
“Document drop: CBO scores the health care takeover”
By Michelle Malkin • July 14, 2009 04:33 PM
SNIPPET: “A Senate staffer passes along the CBO/Joint Committee on Taxation report scoring the House health care takeover.
Bottom line from the staffer:
$1.042 trillion over “ten years”, though the program really gets going in 2015 so its more like a 5 year score. Also, don’t forget most bills carve out unions so that they have a reprieve. Who needs card check [with] US government health insurance as a recruiting tool.
I’ve uploaded the full report: Read it here.
From the caveats section of the report intro:”
FUBO, I despise that man.
"The HELP committee’s success should give us hope, but it should not give us pause. It should instead provide the urgency for both the House and Senate to finish their critical work on health reform before the August recess."
As do I but I wonder why the markets are not tanking as a result? I know Intel did well today but in general if Cap and Trade and Obamacare aren’t spooking the market, what do they know that we don’t?
Word for word, I was just about to post the same thing. Satan with a smiley face.
In other words: “We ain’t gonna use no vaseline sucka!”
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2292831/posts
Universal Health Care Isn’t Worth Our Freedom
wall street journal ^ | JULY 15, 2009 | THOMAS SZASZ
Posted on July 14, 2009 9:00:10 PM PDT by Mount Athos
People who seek the services of auto mechanics want car repair, not “auto care.” Similarly, most people who seek the services of medical doctors want body repair, not “health care.”
We own our cars, are responsible for the cost of maintaining them, and decide what needs fixing based partly on balancing the seriousness of the problem against the expense of repairing it. Our health-care system rests on the principle that, although we own our bodies, the community or state ought to be responsible for paying the cost of repairing them. This is for the ostensibly noble purpose of redistributing the potentially ruinous expense of the medical care of unfortunate individuals.
But what is health care? The concept of reimbursable health-care service rests on the premise that the medical problem in need of servicing is the result of involuntary, unwanted happenings, not the result of voluntary, goal-directed behavior. Leukemia, lupus, prostate cancer, and many infectious diseases are unwanted happenings. Are we going to count obesity and smoking as the same kinds of diseases?
If we persevere in our quixotic quest for a fetishized medical equality we will sacrifice personal freedom as its price. We will become the voluntary slaves of a “compassionate” government that will provide the same low quality health care to everyone.
Henry David Thoreau famously remarked, “If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life.”
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
You mean Senator Kennedy, the man who is receiving the best private medical care in the world that money can buy?
You mean the man who is pushing legislation that will never apply to himself?
You mean the man who if he was a regular Joe Six-Pack would have to, under the nationalized health care he is advocating, stand in line for his cancer treatments, and then be told that due to his age and terminal status of his cancer, that the resources should go to younger patients, and be turned away for treatment?
That Senator Kennedy?
I don’t wish him poorly, but what a hypocritical ass!!
Hey America, you think waiting in line at the DMV is bad, just wait!
Blog:
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/07/singlepayer_health_care_in_act.html
July 15, 2009
“Single-payer health care in action”
Russ Vaughn
SNIPPET: “I’m no big fan of the Associated Press as I consider them soapbox hawkers for world socialism in general, and more specifically, anything anti-American that will support that goal. However, as the overused cliché goes, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. Such is the case with Mary Clare Jalonick’s article describing the terrible conditions faced by Native Americans in their single-payer, federal health care system.
What resonates here for me is my past experience in dealing with that system as a government sales manager for a subsidiary of one of America’s largest pharmaceutical companies. I was a hands-on manager who wanted to see my accounts, to better know what their needs were, so I travelled to a number of Indian Health Service facilities, from remote clinics in Alaska to their so-called showcase inpatient facilities in Phoenix and Gallup, as well as their national headquarters in suburban Rockville, Maryland outside Washington.
It was all uniformly, bureaucratically, depressing. Inadequate doesn’t begin to describe the services offered and criminal doesn’t begin to describe the results.”
obama....further comments: “I really like male nurses....you know I threw out the 1st pitch last night at the MLB All-Star game last night....and everyone knows I would rather play “catch” with a male nurse...!”
Marking this because I’m interested in the answer to this, too. :)
Loved “the American people want this” moment.
Only confirmed how much this man will say and do anything to get votes...the lying POtuS.
Thanks to a special emailer for this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIOrdtm63ug
“New healthcare chart explains US new health system.”
(Added July 15, 2009)
Previously...
Quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2287423/posts
Statement from the President on Health Care Reform
WHITEHOUSE.gov ^ | July 7, 2009 | n/a
Posted on July 7, 2009 10:51:31 AM PDT by Cindy
Note: The following text is a quote:
THE BRIEFING ROOM
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 7, 2009
Statement from the President on Health Care Reform
“I am pleased by the progress we’re making on health care reform and still believe, as I’ve said before, that one of the best ways to bring down costs, provide more choices, and assure quality is a public option that will force the insurance companies to compete and keep them honest. I look forward to a final product that achieves these very important goals.”
###
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2293580/posts
Let Customers Control The Money And Market Will Cure Health Care
IBD Editorials ^ | July 15, 2009 | MICHAEL F. CANNON
Posted on July 15, 2009 6:22:04 PM PDT by Kaslin
As it turns out, “universal coverage” may not be so inevitable after all. Much to the chagrin (and apparent surprise) of President Obama and congressional Democrats, squabbling has erupted in earnest over who will spring for the exorbitant cost.
Fortunately, Obama has an exit strategy: “If there is a way of getting this done where we’re driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate, and have choice of doctor, have flexibility in terms of their plans, and we could do that entirely through the market, I’d be happy to do it that way.”
Well, there is a way: Let individuals control their health care dollars, and free them to choose from a wide variety of health plans and providers. If Congress takes those steps, innovation and market competition will make health care better, more affordable and more secure.
Experts suggest that one-third of U.S. health care spending, or about 6% of GDP, is pure waste. The reason is simple: Government controls half of our nation’s health care dollars, and lets employers control an additional quarter. And nobody spends other people’s money as carefully as they spend their own.
Office of Management and Budget director Peter Orszag told Congress last year: “Imagine what the world would be like if workers (understood) that today it was costing them $10,000 a year in take-home-pay for their employer-sponsored insurance, and that could be $7,000 and they could have $3,000 more in their pockets today if we could relieve these inefficiencies out of the health system.” Nothing will increase consumers’ understanding like giving them that $10,000 directly.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Meaning -- HURRY BEFORE EVERYONE STOPS ENJOYING THE SUMMER AND STARTS PAYING ATTENTION! Oh - and finish the bill on paper at 3AM on a Saturday, hold a special session and vote it through that morning. You know -- to be REALLY transparent and honest.
I don't wish him poorly, but what a hypocritical ass!!
In that case, I will wish him poorly for you!!! Very shortly he will be standing alone before the Lord of Lords & King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will answer for the murder of Mary Jo Kopechne and the rest of his evil deeds.
.
July 18 will be the 40th anniversary of her death.
Note: The following text is a quote:
THE BRIEFING ROOM
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release July 15, 2009
READOUT OF THE PRESIDENT’S CALL
WITH CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT JUDY CHU OF CALIFORNIA
The President called Representative-elect Judy Chu to congratulate her on her victory in last night’s special election in California. The President told her that he is looking forward to working with her in Congress, especially when it comes to reforming our health care system and lowering health care costs for all Americans. The President also congratulated her on being the first Chinese American woman elected to Congress and told her that he admired the way she ran her campaign.
To view a picture of the President calling Congresswoman-elect Judy Chu from the Oval Office today to congratulate her on her victory in the special election to represent California’s 32nd Congressional District, click HERE. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
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