Obama Demands Better Health Care for All: "This Time, We Will Not Fail"

(NOTE: Reference to Health Care for America Now) President Obama kicked off his ambitious goal of reforming health care and providing insurance to all Americans, the first major government effort at reform in 15 years. At the White House's health summit, Obama pledged to pass comprehensive legislation this year, despite economic crises and U.S. engagement in two overseas wars. "When times were good, we didn't get it done. When we had mild recessions, we didn't get it done," Obama said. "There's always a reason not to do it. Now is exactly the time for us to deal with this problem." Indeed, with increasing job losses, approximately 14,000 Americans are losing their health coverage every day. Forty-six million Americans are without health insurance (86.7 million over the last two years), while others are paying more than they can afford. The health care cost share of GDP "is anticipated to rise rapidly from 16.2 percent in 2007 to 17.6 percent in 2009, largely as a result of the recession, and then climb to 20.3 percent by 2018." Referring to a statement made by Health Care for America Now's Richard Kirsch, Obama addressed the cost issue, arguing that "by covering more people, we can also lower costs at the same time, presumably because those who are not insured at the moment are ending up using extraordinarily expensive emergency room care."
http://www.alternet.org/healthwellness/130545/obama_demands_better_health_care_for_all%3A_%22this_time%2C_we_will_not_fail%22/