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STRONGSVILLE, Ohio, March 15 (UPI) -- Reforming the U.S. healthcare system goes beyond politics and requires courage, President Barack Obama said Monday. The debate is "about the millions of lives that would be touched and, in some cases, saved by making private health insurance more secure and more affordable," Obama told a raucous, partisan crowd in Strongsville, Ohio, near Cleveland.
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"We need courage," he said. "We need courage."
Obama, wearing the mantle of campaigner, left Washington for the third time in about a week to push for healthcare reform that Congress will take up this week.
"This status quo on healthcare is simply unsustainable," he said. "We cannot have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people. We know what will happen if we fail to act."
Healthcare reform has been debated for a year in Washington, Obama said, with all proposals put on the table and all arguments made.
"I know many people view this as a partisan issue, but both parties have found plenty of areas where we agree," he said. "And what we've ended up with is a proposal that's somewhere in the middle -- one that incorporates the best ideas from Democrats and Republicans."
He spoke of the three things his proposal would change.
First, "the worst practices" of insurance companies would be banned, including barring insurers from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, lifetime or annual caps and dropping coverage because of illness.
Next, uninsured individuals and small businesses would have a choice of insurance coverage available to federal employees, by allowing individuals and small businesses to pool together to get better health insurance rates. If people or businesses still couldn't afford coverage, the federal government would offer tax incentives.
Obama said his proposal would cost about $1 billion a year over 10 years, but would be paid for by taking away subsidies to insurance companies as well as charging the companies a fee because they would have more customers.
Cost-cutting and cost containment make up the third component of his healthcare proposal. And, speaking to the seniors in attendance, the proposal "adds almost a decade of solvency to Medicare," he said.
"We're going after the waste, fraud and abuse of Medicare ... because these dollars should be spent on care for seniors," Obama said.
And "there is no cutting of your guaranteed Medicare benefits. Period. No ifs, ands or buts," Obama said. "Anybody who says otherwise is either misinformed or they're trying to misinform you."
The president repeated his call on Congress for an up-or-down vote.
"It's been such a long time since we've (had) government on the side of ordinary folks, when we did something for them that relieved some of their struggles," Obama said, pledging that he would work for Americans as long as he is in office.
"I want some courage," Obama said, his voice rising to a near-shout to be heard above the din. "I want to do the right thing ... and with your help we're going to make it happen."
