Continuing his health overhaul campaign, Obama emphasizes risk of losing insurance

Sep 14 2009

President Obama used a new Treasury Department analysis to continue his push for health care reform.

Politico: "....(the) analysis of data from the University of Michigan shows many Americans will be without health insurance at periods of their life ... In his weekly radio and internet address, Obama cites the study to say, 'half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years.'"

"'If you're under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you'll find yourself uninsured at some point in that time," Obama said. "And more than one-third of Americans will go without coverage for longer than one year.' The study is taken from a sample of some 7,500 American families selected by a panel at the University of Michigan, according to Treasury officials who briefed reporters on the results Friday night" (Martin, 9/12). 

Wall Street Journal: "The Treasury report also stated that, from 1997 to 2006, 41% of non-elderly people lacked insurance for at least 6 months. 45% of people earning $50,000 to $100,000 lacked insurance for at least a month during the 10-year period. A Treasury official said in a conference call Friday that the number of those who didn't have insurance during the 10-year period could actually be higher. 'To the extent our numbers are off, we expect that we're understating the periods that people go without health insurance,' the official said" (Yoest, 9/12). 

Los Angeles Times: "Obama leaves Washington today for a healthcare rally in Minneapolis, where he will aim to build on momentum generated by his speech Wednesday before a joint session of Congress. A CBS poll showed that while 40% of people surveyed approved of Obama's handling of healthcare before his speech, the figure jumped to 52% afterward" (Nicholas, 9/13).

The New York Times reports that the Minneapolis rally is "the first of a series of rallies intended to whip up public support for his health care bill. The second is planned for Thursday, at the University of Maryland in College Park.
The White House hopes the rallies will provide a powerful visual — thousands of boisterous Americans cheering in support of health reform — to counter the negative images that emerged during Congressional town meetings over the summer, where critics of Mr. Obama turned out in force. With anti-tax groups who oppose Mr. Obama's policies staging their own rally in Washington on Saturday, the president can ill afford to cede the airwaves to his opponents" (Stolberg, 9/12).

The Associated Press: "In the Republican address, Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said Obama has paid lip service to bipartisanship, rejected ideas that would bring the parties together around overhauling the system and ignored the American people's wishes. He criticized the cost and its long-term effect on the budget deficit, saying one of the House bills works out to $2.4 trillion over 10 years, beginning in 2013.  Obama puts the cost of his plan at $900 billion over the period."

"President Obama should work with Republicans on a bottom-up solution that the American people can support," Cornyn said (Superville, 9/12).