President Will Make Case For Public Option Wednesday Night

in discussion with all these politicans on health care reform, i do not hear anything about these hospitals and doctors charging too much money for everything. how is that going to come down by providing everyone with health insurance. everyone keeps blaming the insurance companies for ripping people off. what about the cost of a doctors visit, or for medicine or a surgery. i just see how thats going to make them lower there cost.

I cannot understand why we, taxpayers, the people helping to pay for congress' health care, cannot have the same options they have in regard to health care. I find congress to feel that they are above the rest of us. What is good enough for them should be good enough for us. It is as simple as that, give us what congress has.

Sharon
VA

Whoo Hooo! The public option will bring insurance to the poor, a good thing in it's own right. That will given them better care, which will actually save money, compared to the emergicare expenses which are passed on to the insurance companies. The public option will also give people who can afford insurance an alternative if regular insurance doesn't provide something reasonable. We all win!

Now, we just have to get this through Congress.

"Diane", of course our taxes will pay for those public health costs, but I'd rather my taxes go to THAT then to pay for an expensive war I don't believe in. Stop the war already and re-direct all our taxes to public health care.

I really hope he pushes the public option in his speech Wednesday. It's well past time he came forward with what he truly stands for regarding reform.

Health *Insurance Reform Cannot Wait, It Must Not Wait, And It Will Not Wait Another Year. My God how much have already died over the years because their coverage was drop or they had a preexisting condition? How sad for any family who has a child or and adult that is born with a condition to be told by the insurance company that they can’t get health care. How ironic is it to fight for the unborn babies’ life but not the life of the born that may have through no fault of their own a medical condition that the Insurance Companies denies because it falls under preexisting conditions. It is ironic that there are those who would fight against the woman who aborts her child but yet the same set of people would fight against the right of the living to have insurance to survive. They call Obama a baby killer well they are all adult killers.

You've living in an alternate universe, Stephanopoulos. 1 1/2 pages of job ads today on a page approximately 2 1/2' x 18" for a population of over half a million. A public option that is going to make it mandatory that everyone have health insurance without effective rules to control insurance company behavior and prices, just wait and see. The "dream" of health insurance for all was wonderful but the law itself is going to be flawed because the fix is already in. Obama invited insurance companies into the White House for a cozy little get together and the John Q. Public will be the loser.

maybe the poor people should start living within their means like the rest of us and save what money they have for healthcare and food versus cellphones, flatscreen tv's and ipods. a telling picture was of michelle obama serving food at a soup kitchen as the so called 'poor' people are snappin pics of her with their phone cameras. clearly the 'destitute' of today are a little different from those of the past. as such, i refuse to pay for their healthcare, i worked hard for what i got, nothing was ever handed to me and i have a great deal of selfpride as a result

Please I beg you let's all commit ourselves to not prevent any from living because they don't have the money to survive. When an American die from any disease it should always be because all that was possible was done and not rather because they did not have the coverage or could not afford the medication. Come on Americans we are all better than this, I plead with you please let my child live. Health *Insurance Reform Cannot Wait, It Must Not Wait, And It Will Not Wait Another Year.

THE ISSUE IS TWO FOLD...ONE YOU NEED TO BRING COSTS DOWN!!! PERIOD....THERE IS NO WAY TO HAVE ANYTHING AT ALL, PUBLIC OR PRIVATE IF COSTS ARE NOT BROUGHT DOWN...ITS THAT SERIOUS!!!! TOO MUCH IS BEING SPENT ON EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES AND DRUGS AND CARE THAT PERHAPS NEEDS TO BE SPENT FAR MORE EFFICIENTLY...LOOK HOW DOES IT COST FOR SOME DRUG COMPANY TO COME UP WITH A NEW ARTHRITIS DRUG FOR EXAMPLE THAT WORKS FOR ONE TENTH THE PEOPLE AND HAS TEN MILLION SIDE EFFECTS..I MEAN WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THESE NEW DRUG COMMERCIALS ITS ALMOST HUMOROUS..."YOU MAY DIE FROM TAKING THIS DRUG" AND THIS GOES ON AND ON IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS...HEALTH CARE MUST BE MADE MORE EFFICIENT, AND THE PRIMARY REASON FOR WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN EUROPE AND CANADA AND AUSTRALIA AND ELSEWHERE IS THAT THEY LONG AGO RAN INTO THIS PROBLEM OF HEALTH CARE BEING TOO EXPENSIVE AND WERE FORCED TO CONTROL THIS BY NATIONALIZING, OR OTHERWISE LIMITING SPECULATION ON HEALTH CARE IMPLEMENTATIONS!!! DO NOT LET THEM FOOL YOU, IN THE END THIS IS A VITAL ISSUE THAT WILL DETERMINE WHETHER WE HAVE HEALTH CARE FOR THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE OR NOT! THINK ABOUT THIS: PEOPLE WILL PAY ANYTHING TO SAVE THEIR LIVES...ANYTHING...WELL GUESS WHAT SPECULATORS HAVE LONG AGO FIGURED THAT OUT, NOW ITS TIME FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THIS AS WELL, AND TO DEAL WITH IT, IF THEY WANT TO HAVE ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE, OTHERWISE ONE DAY SOON, ONLY THE VERY WEALTHIEST MAY ACTUALLY HAVE FUNCTIONAL HEALTH CARE.

Stunned that when Dowd said "the country is against it" meaning healthcare - George's first response was "he has the Democratic majority" and everyone rushed to agree. What planet do you people live on? When did the polls of the voters stop making a difference?

Kiku: "The public option will bring insurance to the poor, a good thing in it's own right."

That already exists. It's called Medicaid.

Yes. Seems the middle class hardworking Americans get no benefits at all. I am working now but found in my brief layoff I got nothing absolutely nothing because I didn't qualify for anything unless I hadn't worked at all. I didn't qualify for food stamps because I made 50 cents more than the limit on unemployment pay of all things and couldn't qualify for educational assistance because I made too much money the year before. Lesson learned don't work sit at home and let the government take care of you and then you get everything. Sad. Finally in closing the biggest slap in the face. I got no COBRA benefits from the government program because I got laid off in July of last year and the government benefits only gave help to those unemployed December of that year nothing for those who got laid off earlier. So yes, this is a poor peoples program and once again the Middle Class and struggling are forgotten about. Makes me wonder if we just sat at home and watched television would we get more. The answer is yes. You know our politicians didn't read the bill before they announced it would help everyone on unemployment or they are totally out of touch with the middle class.

Outstanding! That's what he run on and what his voters expect. Thanks President Obama for representing the people who put you in office. Now make it fast and effective!

First, until we stop electing the same old congress man/women, what do you think we should do? Maybe all american's should stop paying taxes until something is done about Heath care, Job reform and stop giving illegal people rights in this country. They can't put 5 million people in jail?

The sick should have to worry about lining the pockets of HMOs so HMOs can have a job. HMOs are a republican created phony baloney market who's death is long overdue.

Only a fool would say that the poor should live within their means in order to have insurance, when in so many cases people do not lose their coverage because they did not live within their means. Rather In the real world people get sick, lose their jobs. Then there are diseases that can cause thousands of dollars to combat. I know no parent who would let their child die if there are medical procedures that can help. Hence we have situation where the cost of the medical procedures suck families dry beyond there capability to maintain.

Whatever they come up with, congress and federal workers should be forced to use it also!!!

Well he's "negotiated" pharmaceuticals to his side and with AARP, he got the largest health insurance provider, United Health Care. He won the AMA leadership over, and that gets 40% of the doctors. I guess now Obamacare has won over everyone except those that will bear the heaviest share of the cost: the middle class worker and business owner. Of course in the Utopian socialist society, there is no middle class, so what does that matter?

Enough with these presidential addresses that are no more than CYA promos. If Congress passes a bill with a public option, he'll sign it. It Congress passes a bill without a public option, he'll sign it. Other than trying to salvage his deteriorating public opinion polls what's the point?

In the eyes of real Democrats, no public option is not an option. Anything else proffered under the color of "reform" would be another insurance co. giveaway. No more capitulation to those who lost an election by a landslide.

Thank you Maxine Waters. Finally someone put it out there with her comment about Republicans not agreeing or working with President Obama. It is time to stop dancing around the issue. Health care reform has gone beyond what is best for the country. Republicans see this as a way to destroy President Obama and they have no intention no matter what President Obama offers to support anything he wants. My only hope is that the President sees this and begins to try and push HIS agenda, the agenda the American people voted for him for goes through.

It is time that the Democratic party steps out there and call Republicans on their antics. It is time they come out and denounce the behavior and hate rhetoric that the American people have shoved down their throats day in and day out. It is time for someone to point out how un American, unpatriotic and hateful those on the right have become. I'm not advocating making them stop their rants because listening to them shows how ignorant they are. I am saying though to label it what it is: fear monger hate speech with the intent on indoctrinating those on the right. Denounce it the same way Republicans denounced any criticism of George Bush. It is time for Republicans/conservatives/right wingers be held responsible for dividing the country.

Thank you again Maxine Waters!!!!

SMALL BIZ OWNERS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES ARE THE REAL FALL GUYS HERE....AND YET WE HAVE THESE REPUBLICAN LOUTS TURN THIS THING AROUND....POOR PEOPLE HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE, RICH PEOPLE HAVE GOVERNMENT HEALTH INSURANCE(THE VERY BEST) SINCE EVERY HEALTH CARE EXPENSE IS MORE THAN DEDUCTED AT ITS FACE VALUE FROM THEIR TAXES!!! THE PEOPLE WHO DONT HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE AND WHO ARE ALWAYS AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY AND PROPERTY ARE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND THEIR EMPLOYEES WHO SIMPLY CANNOT AFFORD HEALTH INSURANCE!!! WHY IS THIS NOT UNDERSTOOD? I JUST DONT GET IT..I HAVE COME FROM A FAMILY OF SMALL BIZ OWNERS, AND I AM MYSELF A SMALL BIZ OWNER AND I KNOW FULL WELL WHAT THE REAL DEAL IS...UNLESS YOU ARE MAKING A KILLING(WHICH I AM NOT) YOU REALLY ARE AT SERIOUS RISK FOR GRAVE AND TERRIBLE LOSS IF YOU HAPPEN TO GET SICK BEFORE YOUR SIXTY FIFTH BIRTHDAY. IF YOU HAVE A HOUSE, YOU MAY LOSE IT TO AN EXECUTIVE SOMEWHERE...THAT SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE...THERE SHOULD BE A MORE EQUITABLE SYSTEM THAN THAT....AGAIN, I DONT WANT TO GO OVERBOARD EITHER!!!! I THINK WHAT WE NEED IS A REAL WORKABLE SOLUTION, BUT LETS MAKE CERTAIN THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT HAVING TO LIE AND ACT LIKE CRIMINALS JUST TO SAVE THEIR LIVES...THATS JUST NOT RIGHT....YET THIS IS WHAT THE REAL GAME IS. PROPORTION IS EVERYTHING HERE...WE NEED A PROPORTIONATE RESPONSE BY BOTH SIDES.

realman1963, maybe the poor people should start living within their means like the rest of us and save what money they have for healthcare and food versus cellphones, flatscreen tv's and ipods. a telling picture was of michelle obama serving food at a soup kitchen as the so called 'poor' people are snappin pics of her with their phone cameras. clearly the 'destitute' of today are a little different from those of the past. as such, i refuse to pay for their healthcare, i worked hard for what i got, nothing was ever handed to me and i have a great deal of selfpride as a result

when have you ever been in a poor mans home? You don't know what they have in their homes because based on your comment it would be beneath you to ever visit their neighborhood. Unless of course you have gone there to commit a crime. Stop falling for the crap right wing haters feed you. I work hard for what I have as well. I also know that those "poor" people work hard as well. They may be working two or three low wage jobs. You know those jobs like taking care of your parents in the nursing home or in their home. Like serving you meals in a restaurant, cleaning your home, working in your child's school, driving the school bus....Stop being so selfish because by the grace of whoever you believe in, next week you could be in the same boat.

Reform is NOT government takeover of health care.
1.Stop protecting insurance companies state monopolies, open up national competition.
Gibbs' comment: One major carrier in Alabama for individual policies....add one government plan = 2.
National = 1100+ companies competing. Which will lower cost?
2. Encourage Health saving plans.
3. Tort reform.
4. Pre existing condition covered
5. Portability of plans.

We need to protect the weak, strengthen Medicaid.
But the American public is not looking for Big Brother. We are still a nation of strong individuals and want to make decisions about our lives.
"Remember always that you have not only the right to be an individual; you have an obligation to be one."
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)