A pivotal week begins

Mar 8, 2010 — Washington Post

Scott Wilson

President Obama began a pivotal week for his health-care legislation with a Monday morning speech in which he strongly criticized the insurance industry, holding up rising premiums and lost coverage as the imperatives driving his reform efforts.

Obama traveled to suburban Philadelphia where he delivered remarks that drew on individual health-care experiences and a recent Wall Street conference call advising investors that insurance companies will continue raising premiums. He plans to take his increasingly populist message to Missouri, another swing state, later this week.

In his speech to about 1,800 people at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pa., Obama said that "every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they have a preexisting 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."

"These insurance companies have made a calculation," Obama said. "Listen to this, the other day, there was a conference call organized by Goldman Sachs; you know Goldman Sachs," he said to laughter.

He continued, "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 okay 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."

Obama has called on Congress to schedule a final vote on his health-care initiative before March 18 when the two-week Easter recess begins. But Democratic congressional leaders, particularly those in the House, are having trouble rounding up the necessary votes for the package. Republicans say most Americans oppose the plan and that it should be abandoned after a year's work.

As the economy struggles to emerge from a deep recession, Obama is increasingly using as a backdrop the rising cost of health insurance and the industry practice of dropping those who need care. Consumer protections included in his proposal test well in opinion polls.

In his speech, Obama also revived his criticism of Washington political culture, something he promised during his 2008 campaign to change with more bipartisan outreach. He said much of Washington is obsessed with "the sport of politics," and he argued that the short-term focus on elections is hindering his effort to bring about long-term reforms in fields such as health care.

The public is "not worried about the next election. We just had an election," he said to cheers. "They're worried about the next pay check or the next tuition payment that's due. They're thinking about retirement."

Bill Burton, the deputy White House press secretary, said Obama intends the speech as an argument for "the urgency of getting something done right now" as some health-insurance companies continue to raise rates.

In his remarks, Obama cited the move last month by Anthem Blue Cross in California to raise rates by nearly 40 percent. He also mentioned his home state of Illinois where, he said, rates are going up by as much as 60 percent.

"So how much higher do premiums have to rise until we do something about it? How many more Americans have to lose their health insurance?" Obama said. "How many more businesses have to drop coverage? 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?"