President Obama stated that health reform is “a necessity we cannot postpone any longer” rather than a “luxury” in his weekly address to the nation on Saturday. And reform will succeed, said Obama, because “everyone is at the table--patient’s advocates and health insurers; business and labor; Democrats and Republicans alike.” He pointed out that the “improbable allies” of hospitals, physicians, insurers, pharma, and unions have pledged to cut $2 trillion in health costs over the next decade, a milestone that “wouldn’t have happened just a few short years ago.”
Obama also stressed that reform must not increase the budget deficit but will be paid for through “rigorous spending reductions and appropriate additional revenues. We’ll eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in our health care system, but we’ll also take on key causes of rising costs,” he said. Obama concluded by saying, “All across America, our families are making hard choices when it comes to health care. Now, it’s time for Washington to make the right ones. It’s time to deliver.”
