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Responding to a question at a town hall-style meeting in New Mexico on Thursday, Obama said he expects a plan from Congress by the August recess that will be a "vast improvement" over the current system.
Obama was asked why a "single payer" plan — where the government makes payments directly to medical care providers — isn't on the table.
He said the nation has a tradition of employer-based health care using private insurance companies, and that a lot of people are satisfied with it.
Congressional leaders have said a single-payer plan is politically impractical. And here is the rest of it.
Healthcare Reform Is Being Swiftboated Says 'Organizing for America'
David Plouffe sent out this email this week that tells us that President Obama is waiting for the people to rise up with enough popular support he needs to get the Congress to pass a meaningful healthcare reform bill.
"When we launched our healthcare campaign this week, we knew we'd face fierce opposition -- we just didn't know it would happen so fast.
As we speak, the same people behind the notorious "swiftboat" ads of 2004 are already pumping millions of dollars into deceptive television ads. Their plan is simple: torpedo healthcare reform before it sees the light of day by scaring the public and distorting the President's approach.
The swiftboaters are once again trying to sell the American people short. As during the election, we deserve a serious conversation -- not fear-mongering and deceit. You and I see the importance of healthcare reform every day. We can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to face one of America's greatest challenges head on.
That's why Organizing for America is launching an urgent, grassroots campaign to pass real healthcare reform in 2009.
When the swiftboaters flood the airwaves with distortions, we'll flood the streets with volunteers armed with facts. When they send lobbyists to tell Congress to back down, well send millions of calls, letters, and stories from real Americans asking them to stand up.
This isn't a fight we can put off until next month or next year. To stop the swiftboaters from sinking healthcare reform, we must act now."
Please donate $25 to defend healthcare reform today: Click here to donate.
President Obama's view on healthcare reform is heavily influenced by what he thinks is possible given the pressure that the insurance companies is exerting on the Congress to exclude the single-payer option from the public debate and on the now broken promises the industry made to rein in rising health care costs.
When prominent doctors and healthcare leaders are EXCLUDED, the FACTS are being excluded. President Obama needs to hear expert advice from the front line professional workers who know why the health care system is not working for the benefit of anyone. Even Dr. Howard Dean shrinked the numbers of Americans who would favor a single payer approach down to an estimated 15% from poll numbers in the range of 60% that show the MAJORITY OF AMERICANS in favor of a system like Medicare for all.
Republicans and their corporate profiteering cohorts are following the 'swiftboating' playbook of PR whiz Frank Luntz who told them they should go on the record with rhetoric that supports "reform", but endlessly pick apart Obama's plan in an effort to kill meaningful reform altogether. So far Congress thinks that the American people like the health care they already have, that the system we have now is mostly private and employer funded. These popular myths are based on false assertions backed up by junk research meant to convince politicians that a single-payer publicly financed healthcare can't succeed. Already this swiftboat campaign is at work affecting our Democratic leaders opinion that single-payer reforms are not practical, even worse they are unAmerican or socialistic.
The brave doctors who are speaking out say that the Republicans will kill health care reform UNLESS we the people organize and GET THE FACTS OUT. Every one of these myths can be debunked. Obama's team knows exactly how the swiftboaters are operating. We need to help the President. Then Congress can sort out how to pay for a single-payer system. --Editorial Comment by 26dems
