Obama Team Talking Points Focus on Costs

Washington Whispers has obtained the White House talking points that were distributed to House and Senate Democrats last night:

Tonight, the President made very clear that his plan has at its core three overriding goals: to bring stability and security to Americans who have insurance today; to make sure there is affordable coverage for those who don't; and to reduce the unsustainable growth in the cost of health care, which has doubled in the last decade and may double again if we do nothing.

Our failure over the years to rise to the challenge of fixing a broken health care system—something Washington has talked about for decades—has led us to a breaking point.

• America is the only advanced democracy on earth that allows the hardship of lacking health insurance on millions of Americans.

• But the problems in our health system are not just problems for the uninsured. Even insured Americans have less security and stability than ever before. They're paying more for less and they're worried they'll lose their coverage if they lose their jobs or see their coverage dropped when they need it most.

• And skyrocketing costs are forcing employers to pay more for insurance or drop coverage all together and placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers .

President Obama clearly laid out the details every American needs to know about his health care plan.

• The President's plan incorporates ideas from Senators and Congressmen; from Democrats and Republicans—even from some of his opponents in both the primary and general election.

• If you already have health insurance through your job, Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have

• Insurance companies will be prohibited from denying coverage because of a preexisting condition, dropping or watering down coverage when you get sick, or arbitrarily capping the amount of coverage you can receive in year or lifetime.

• They'll also have to abide by yearly limits on out-of-pocket expenses and to fully cover—with no extra charge—routine checkups and preventative care, like mammograms and colonoscopies.

• For those who don't have insurance—or who lose a job or start a small business—this plan will offer quality, affordable choices.

• We will create a new insurance exchange where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices.

• As one big group, these customers will have greater leverage to bargain with the insurance companies for better prices and quality coverage. This is how large companies and government employees, including Members of Congress, have access to affordable insurance.

• Because we all end up paying for the expensive emergency room visits for those who choose to go uninsured, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance and businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care or chip in to help cover the cost of their workers.

• There will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still cannot afford coverage, and 95% of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements under our plan.

The President also addressed some of the misinformation and concerns percolating about reform.

• He dismissed some of the bogus claims made by those whose agenda is only to kill reform at any cost—like that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens or that reform will insure illegal immigrants or use federal dollars to fund abortions.

• He also set the record straight on what a so-called "public option" would—and would not—be.

• The public option is not a "government takeover" as some critics suggest. The President has no interest in putting insurance companies out of business.

• At the same time, it would help keep insurance companies honest and introduce choice and competition to the market.

• It would only be an option for those who don't have insurance—nobody would be forced to choose it and it would not impact those who have insurance.

• And it would not be subsidized by taxpayer dollars - it would have to rely on the premiums it collects.

Finally, the President addressed how to pay for this plan.

• First, the President absolutely will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits—either now or in the future.

• As proof of how serious he is, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize.

• Second, we've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system—a system that is currently full of waste and abuse.

• Despite the scare tactics from some reform opponents, not a dollar of the Medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan. The only thing this plan would eliminate is hundreds of billion dollars in waste and fraud, as well as subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies

• Most of the rest of the cost would be paid for with revenues from charging insurance companies a fee for their most expensive policies which will encourage them to provide greater value for the money.

• Finally, while President Obama doesn't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, he has talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs.

• Tonight he proposed that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine. The Bush Administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these issues and President Obama is directing his Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today.