President Obama presented his final proposal on health care Wednesday, calling on the Senate to pass health care reform in what appears to be the “last stand” on the issue after a heated yearlong debate.
After concluding a “health care summit” at the Blair House with top legislative officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties, President Obama on Wednesday said he incorporated elements from both sides of the aisle, in what he referred to as an improvement.
“This is where we’ve ended up. It’s an approach that has been debated and changed and I believe improved over the last year,” said President Obama.
“It incorporates the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans—including some of the ideas that Republicans offered during the health care summit, like funding state grants on medical malpractice reform, and curbing waste and fraud, and abuse in the health care system,” he added.
While ideas from both sides have been incorporated into Obama’s final health care proposal, the president admitted the high probability of a remaining fundamental disagreement between him and the Republicans on the oversight of insurance companies.
“Now, despite all that we agree on and all the Republican ideas we’ve incorporated, many—probably most—Republicans in Congress just have a fundamental disagreement over whether we should have more or less oversight of insurance companies.”
“And if they truly believe that less regulation would lead to higher quality, more affordable health insurance, then they should vote against the proposal I’ve put forward.”
The president went on to support the idea of an “Up or Down Vote”, sometimes known as a “clean vote.”
The controversial “reconciliation” rule of an “Up or Down Vote” allows for bills to reach a floor vote and pass with 51 Senate votes—avoiding filibusters.
“The American people want to know if it’s still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act,” said Obama.
Many Republicans are expected to vote against the bill while also pressuring key Democrats to oppose it also.
“We’ll fight,” said Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
After concluding a “health care summit” at the Blair House with top legislative officials from both the Republican and Democratic parties, President Obama on Wednesday said he incorporated elements from both sides of the aisle, in what he referred to as an improvement.
“This is where we’ve ended up. It’s an approach that has been debated and changed and I believe improved over the last year,” said President Obama.
“It incorporates the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans—including some of the ideas that Republicans offered during the health care summit, like funding state grants on medical malpractice reform, and curbing waste and fraud, and abuse in the health care system,” he added.
While ideas from both sides have been incorporated into Obama’s final health care proposal, the president admitted the high probability of a remaining fundamental disagreement between him and the Republicans on the oversight of insurance companies.
“Now, despite all that we agree on and all the Republican ideas we’ve incorporated, many—probably most—Republicans in Congress just have a fundamental disagreement over whether we should have more or less oversight of insurance companies.”
“And if they truly believe that less regulation would lead to higher quality, more affordable health insurance, then they should vote against the proposal I’ve put forward.”
The president went on to support the idea of an “Up or Down Vote”, sometimes known as a “clean vote.”
The controversial “reconciliation” rule of an “Up or Down Vote” allows for bills to reach a floor vote and pass with 51 Senate votes—avoiding filibusters.
“The American people want to know if it’s still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future. They are waiting for us to act,” said Obama.
Many Republicans are expected to vote against the bill while also pressuring key Democrats to oppose it also.
“We’ll fight,” said Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
Friends Read Free