Obama blames insurance companies as he campaigns for healthcare overhaul
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President Obama kicks off a week of pushing his healthcare overhaul plans with a visit to Pennsylvania on Monday morning, where he will assail insurance companies for raising rates and limiting coverage for the sick.
Obama is traveling to Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa. Later this week, he goes to St. Louis.
Both trips will focus on the healthcare overhaul, which Obama hopes to sign before he leaves for Asia on March 18. The first step is expected in the House where Democratic leaders are trying to put together the 216 votes needed to pass a Senate version of the bill that differs sharply from the House version passed last year.
The House also will need to pass modifications that the Senate will have to pass. Senate Democrats will use reconciliation, which allows a majority vote rather than a super majority.
In excerpts of his speech released Monday morning by the White House, Obama argued that the lack of competition among insurance companies allows them to raise premiums while denying coverage for those with pre-existing conditions.
“Every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they have a pre-existing condition. Every year, they drop more people’s coverage when they’re sick and need it most. Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher,” Obama says.
As he has in the past, Obama singled out Anthem Blue Cross in California, which has announced rate increases of up to 39%.
The companies argue that the increases are needed because of rising healthcare costs.
But Obama has concentrated on the companies, in much the same way he has in his populist message against financial institutions in the hope of igniting momentum for financial reform.
“You see, these insurance companies have made a calculation. The other day, on a conference call organized by Goldman Sachs, an insurance broker told Wall Street investors that insurance companies know they will lose customers if they keep raising premiums. But since there’s so little competition in the insurance industry, they’re OK with people being priced out of health insurance because they’ll still make more by raising premiums on the customers they have. And they will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it,” the president will say.
As he has in the past, Obama also will argue that reform is needed now or Americans will not see changes in the next years. That message is designed for his own party, split into factions over the overhaul.
“How many more years can the federal budget handle the crushing costs of Medicare and Medicaid? When is the right time for health insurance reform?” the president will say.
-- Michael Muskal
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