Obama Defends Health Care Reform Plan

By VOA News 23 July 2009

President Obama speaks at White House news conference, 22 Jul 2009

President Barack Obama took his push for health care reform to the American people Wednesday night, appearing in a televised news conference largely devoted to reforming the health care sector.

Mr. Obama said he is confident Congress this year will pass health care reform that lowers costs, promotes choice and provides Americans coverage they can depend on. He said 47 million Americans have no insurance.

He said he would oppose legislation that is primarily funded by taxing middle-class families, or a bill that adds to the U.S. deficit. He said estimates show that two-thirds of the cost of health care reform can be paid for by reallocating wasteful spending in federal health care programs.

Republicans, who are in the minority in Congress, agree that health care costs are too high, but they say the proposed changes will cost far more than President Obama and Democrats estimate. Republicans also oppose a proposed tax on the wealthy to help pay for the plan.

The president has said he wants both houses of Congress to approve legislation before their August recess, but many lawmakers from both parties say the president's timetable is needlessly rushing the creation of complicated legislation.

On another topic at Wednesday's news conference, Mr. Obama defended his decision to bail out financial institutions, saying the U.S. financial system was on the verge of a "complete financial meltdown." He said the system has now stabilized, but that financial regulatory reform is needed to change the practices that led to the problems in the first place.