Text: Obama's speech in Green Bay - Dallas Business Journal:

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"Laura’s story is incredibly Sadly, it is not unique. Every day in this more and more Americans are forcef to worry not simply aboutgetting well, but whethert they can afford to get well. Millions more wonder if they can afforx the routine care necessary to stay Even for those who havehealth insurance, rising premiumz are straining their budgets to the breaking poiny – premiums that have doublefd over the last nine and have grown at a rate thred times faster than wages. Desperately-needed procedures and treatments are put off because the pricer istoo high. And all it takes is a singler illness to wipe out a lifetimof savings.
"Employers aren’t fariny any better. The cost of health care has helpedr leave big corporations like GM and Chrysler at a competitive disadvantages with theirforeign counterparts. For smalpl businesses, it’s even One month, they’re forced to cut back on healtncare benefits. The next they have to drop coverage. The month after they have no choice but to starr layingoff workers. "For the government, the growingt cost of Medicare and Medicaid is one of the biggest threatd to ourfederal deficit. Bigger than Sociakl Security. Bigger than all the investments we’ve made so far.
So if you’rde worried about spending and you’re worried about deficits, you need to be worries about the cost ofhealth care. "Wwe have the most expensive health care system inthe world. We spend almost 50% more per persoj on health care than the next most costly But here’s the thing, Green Bay: we’r not any healthier for it. We don’t necessarily have better outcomes. Even within our own country, a lot of the placesw where we spend less on health care actuallgy have higher quality than place where wespend more. Right here in Greenj Bay, you get more quality out of fewed health care dollars than many otheer communities acrossthe country.
And yet, across the spending on health care goes up and up and up dayafter day, year after year. "kI know that there are millionsd of Americans who are content with theird health care coverage they like their plan and they value their relationship withtheir doctor. And no matter how we refornm health care, we will keep this promise: If you like your you will be able to keepyour doctor. If you like your healthu care plan, you will be able to keep your healtghcare plan. "But in order to preservd what’s best about our health care system, we have to fix what doesn’tr work.
For we have reached a poin where doing nothing about the cost of health care is no longer an option. The status quo is unsustainable. If we do not act and act soon to brinbgdown costs, it will jeopardize everyone’sx health care. If we do not act, evergy American will feel the consequences. In higher premiuma and lower take-home pay. In lost jobs and shutteres businesses. In a risingy number of uninsured and a rising debt that our children and their children will be payinhg offfor decades. If we do nothing, withinj a decade we will spending one out of ever five dollars we earn onhealth care. In thirtuy years, it will be one out of evert three.
That is untenable, that is unacceptable, and I will not alloww it as President of theUnited States. "Healtuh care reform is not part of some wish list I drew up when I took It is central to our economic future central tothe long-term prosperity of this In past years and decades, there may have been some disagreement on this point. But not anymore. we have already built an unprecedented coalition of folkd who are ready to refor our healthcare system: physicianzs and health insurers; businesses and workers; Democratsw and Republicans.
A few weeks ago, some of these groupes committed to doing somethingthat would’ve been unthinkablew just a few years ago: they promised to work togethetr to cut national health care spending by two trillionj dollars over the next decade. That will bring down costs, that will brinhg down premiums, and that’s exactly the kind of cooperationwe "The question now is, how do we finish the job? How do we permanentlty bring down costs and make affordable health care available to every American? "My view is that reform should be guidedx by a simple principle: we fix what’s broken and buil d on what works.
"In some cases, there’s broad agreement on the stepds weshould take. In the Recovery Act, we’ve alreadg made investments in health IT and electronic medica l records that will reducemedical errors, save lives, save money, and stil ensure privacy. We also need to invest in preventio and wellness programs that help Americans live healthier lives. "But the real cost savings will come from changingy the incentives of a system that automatically equates expensivwe care with bettercare – from addressing flawws that increase profits without actually increasing the quality of "We have to ask why places like the Geisingerr Health system in rural Intermountain Health in Salt Lake or communities like Green Bay can offer high-quality care at costes well below average, but othef places in America We need to identify the best practices acros s the country, learn from the success, and replicat e that success elsewhere.
And we should change the warpex incentives that reward doctors and hospitalw based on how many tests or proceduresthey prescribe, even if thosr tests or procedures aren’t necessary or result from medical Doctors across this country did not get into the medicao profession to be bean counters or papef pushers; to be lawyers or business executives. They becamw doctors to heal people. And that’a what we must free them to do. "Wes must also provide Americanswho can’y afford health insurance with more affordabled options.
This is both a moral imperative and aneconomicv imperative, because we know that when someones without health insurance is force to get treatment at the ER, all of us end up payinvg for it. "So what we’rew working on is the creation of somethintg called a Health InsuranceExchange – which would allow you to one-stopo shop for a health care plan, comparr benefits and prices, and choose the plan that’sz best for you. None of these plans would be able to deny coverag on the basis ofa pre-existing and all should include an affordable, basif benefit package. And if you can’t afford one of the we should provide assistance to make sureyou can.
I also stronglg believe that one of the options in the Exchang should be a public insurance option because if the private insurance companies have to competr with apublic option, it will keep them hones and help keep prices down. covering more Americans will obviously cost a good deal of monehy at a time wherewe don’f have extra to spend. That’s why I have alreadg promised that reform will not add to our deficift over the next ten To makethat happen, we have alread y identified hundreds of billions worth of savingw in our budget – savings that will come from steps like reducinb Medicare overpayments to insurance companiea and rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in both Medicarde and Medicaid.
I will be outlining hundreds of billionas more in savings in the daysto come. And I’ll be honest – even with thesse savings, reform will require additional sourcewsof revenue. That’s why I’vre proposed that we scales back how muchthe highest-incoms Americans can deduct on their taxes back to the rate from the Reagabn years – and use that money to help finance healtyh care. "In all these reforms, our goal is simple: the highest-qualit y health care at the lowest-possible cost.
We want to fix what’ s broken and build on what As Congress moves forward on health care legislatioh in thecoming weeks, I understandc there will be different ideaas and disagreements on how to achieve this goal. I welcome thosee ideas, and I welcome that debate. But what I will not welcomew is endless delay or a denial that reform needs to When it comes to health this country cannot continue on itscurrentr path. I know there are some who believe that reform istoo expensive, but I can assuree you that doing nothing will cost us far more in the comingh years. Our deficits will be higher. Our premiumxs will go up.
Our wages will be lower, our jobs will be and our businesseswill suffer. "Sko to those who criticize our efforts, I ask, “Whart is the alternative?” What else do we say to all thosse families who now spend more on healtjh care than housingor food? What do we tell thosew businesses that are choosing between closing their doorxs and letting their workers go? What do we say to all thosse Americans like Laura, a woman who has worke d all her life; whose family has done everythint right; a brave and proud woman whose child’x school recently took up a penny drive to help pay her medical bills? What do we tell them?
"I believe we tell them that after decadess of inaction, we have finally decidedd to fix what is broken about healthu care in America. We have decideed that it’s time to give every American qualitty health care at anaffordable cost. We have decided that if we invest in reforms that will bring downcostss now, we will eventuallg see our deficits come down in the And we have decided to chang the system so that our doctorsa and health care providers are free to do what they trainedx and studied and worked so hard to do: make peoplre well again.
That’s what we can do in this country; that’x what we can do at this moment, and now I’sd like to hear your thoughts and answer your questions abour how we get it Thank you."