Obama Urges Congress to Pass Health Care Reform by August

Makes Economic Case for Reform, Includes Prevention
President Barack Obama has asked Congress to pass health care reform legislation before their August recess and called this a “make or break period.” The move comes as health care reform is increasingly a key issue for the White House. Yesterday, a major report was released and Obama met with Senate Democrats on key Committees to discuss reform.

The report, released early in the day, presented the economic case for health care reform from the White House Council of Economic Advisers. It covers the current economic impact of health care on the nation’s economy and a forecast of what could happen without reform. It then discusses key components of reform that would have major economic impacts, including slowing health care cost growth and expanding coverage.

The role of healthier lifestyles was noted as a key element of successful health care reform. “It will also be important to encourage individuals through education and incentives to make healthier lifestyle choices, such as exercising and healthy eating,” the report stated. “This is important because healthier lifestyle choices have positive, direct benefits on lowering costs.”

Yesterday afternoon, President Obama met with about two-dozen Democrats on the Senate Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Both Committees are working to create their own health care reform bills. Obama’s message to them coincided with the report from earlier in the day, that it is a major imperative for the White House that long-term costs are driven down. In addition, the group discussed how to fund immediate changes to the nation’s health care system. According to reports, there was talk about the taxation of health benefits, which Senator Max Baucus of Montana claims will raise $250 billion annually. A White House statement said that Obama prefers funding methods outlined in earlier reports that do not include such taxes.

Underscoring the days events was the sense of urgency being conveyed by Obama. "We can't afford to put this off," Obama said at the start of a meeting the Senate Democrats. "This window between now and the [Senate's] August recess I think is going to be the make-or-break period. This is the time where we've got to get this running."