National Conference of Democratic Mayors

Press

Remarks by the President on the House Vote on Health Care Reform

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2010

Remarks by the President on the House Vote on Health Insurance Reform

East Room

11:47 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Good evening, everybody.  Tonight, after nearly 100 years of talk and frustration, after decades of trying, and a year of sustained effort and debate, the United States Congress finally declared that America’s workers and America's families and America's small businesses deserve the security of knowing that here, in this country, neither illness nor accident should endanger the dreams they’ve worked a lifetime to achieve.

Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics.  We pushed back on the undue influence of special interests.  We didn't give in to mistrust or to cynicism or to fear.  Instead, we proved that we are still a people capable of doing big things and tackling our biggest challenges.  We proved that this government -- a government of the people and by the people -- still works for the people.

I want to thank every member of Congress who stood up tonight with courage and conviction to make health care reform a reality.  And I know this wasn’t an easy vote for a lot of people.  But it was the right vote.  I want to thank Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her extraordinary leadership, and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn for their commitment to getting the job done.  I want to thank my outstanding Vice President, Joe Biden, and my wonderful Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, for their fantastic work on this issue.  I want to thank the many staffers in Congress, and my own incredible staff in the White House, who have worked tirelessly over the past year with Americans of all walks of life to forge a reform package finally worthy of the people we were sent here to serve.

Today’s vote answers the dreams of so many who have fought for this reform.  To every unsung American who took the time to sit down and write a letter or type out an e-mail hoping your voice would be heard -- it has been heard tonight.  To the untold numbers who knocked on doors and made phone calls, who organized and mobilized out of a firm conviction that change in this country comes not from the top down, but from the bottom up -- let me reaffirm that conviction:  This moment is possible because of you.

Most importantly, today’s vote answers the prayers of every American who has hoped deeply for something to be done about a health care system that works for insurance companies, but not for ordinary people.  For most Americans, this debate has never been about abstractions, the fight between right and left, Republican and Democrat -- it’s always been about something far more personal.  It’s about every American who knows the shock of opening an envelope to see that their premiums just shot up again when times are already tough enough.  It’s about every parent who knows the desperation of trying to cover a child with a chronic illness only to be told “no” again and again and again.  It’s about every small business owner forced to choose between insuring employees and staying open for business.  They are why we committed ourselves to this cause.

Tonight’s vote is not a victory for any one party -- it's a victory for them.  It's a victory for the American people.  And it's a victory for common sense.

Now, it probably goes without saying that tonight’s vote will give rise to a frenzy of instant analysis.  There will be tallies of Washington winners and losers, predictions about what it means for Democrats and Republicans, for my poll numbers, for my administration.  But long after the debate fades away and the prognostication fades away and the dust settles, what will remain standing is not the government-run system some feared, or the status quo that serves the interests of the insurance industry, but a health care system that incorporates ideas from both parties -- a system that works better for the American people.

If you have health insurance, this reform just gave you more control by reining in the worst excesses and abuses of the insurance industry with some of the toughest consumer protections this country has ever known -- so that you are actually getting what you pay for.

If you don’t have insurance, this reform gives you a chance to be a part of a big purchasing pool that will give you choice and competition and cheaper prices for insurance.  And it includes the largest health care tax cut for working families and small businesses in history -- so that if you lose your job and you change jobs, start that new business, you’ll finally be able to purchase quality, affordable care and the security and peace of mind that comes with it.

This reform is the right thing to do for our seniors.  It makes Medicare stronger and more solvent, extending its life by almost a decade.  And it’s the right thing to do for our future.  It will reduce our deficit by more than $100 billion over the next decade, and more than $1 trillion in the decade after that.

So this isn’t radical reform.  But it is major reform.  This legislation will not fix everything that ails our health care system.  But it moves us decisively in the right direction.  This is what change looks like.

Now as momentous as this day is, it's not the end of this journey.  On Tuesday, the Senate will take up revisions to this legislation that the House has embraced, and these are revisions that have strengthened this law and removed provisions that had no place in it.  Some have predicted another siege of parliamentary maneuvering in order to delay adoption of these improvements.  I hope that’s not the case.  It’s time to bring this debate to a close and begin the hard work of implementing this reform properly on behalf of the American people.  This year, and in years to come, we have a solemn responsibility to do it right.

Nor does this day represent the end of the work that faces our country.  The work of revitalizing our economy goes on.  The work of promoting private sector job creation goes on.  The work of putting American families’ dreams back within reach goes on.  And we march on, with renewed confidence, energized by this victory on their behalf.

In the end, what this day represents is another stone firmly laid in the foundation of the American Dream.  Tonight, we answered the call of history as so many generations of Americans have before us.  When faced with crisis, we did not shrink from our challenge -- we overcame it.  We did not avoid our responsibility -- we embraced it.  We did not fear our future -- we shaped it.

Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

END
11:55 P.M. EDT

 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi Celebrates the Success of Health Care Reform



On February 25th, House and Senate leaders of both parties met with President Obama at the Blair House to discuss moving forward with comprehensive health reform. On March 18th,House Democrats unveiled legislation to improve the Senate-passed bill achieving our three key goals—affordability for the middle class, accessibility for all Americans, and accountability for the insurance industry. On March 21st, the House passed the Senate version of health insurance reform legislation by a vote of 219 to 212—sending it to the President for his signature into law on March 23rd.  The House also passed the Reconciliation bill to improve the Senate bill by a vote of 220 to 211 on the 21st—which the Senate passed on March 25th, with two small changes, and it returned to the House later that evening, passing by a vote of 220-207.  The President signed this bill into law on March 30th.

The final health insurance reform legislation (the Senate bill as improved by the Reconciliation Act) will ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care and significantly reduce long-term health care costs. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has determined that it will provide coverage to 32 million more people, or more than 94% percent of Americans, while lowering health care costs over the long term. This historic legislation will reduce the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years, with $1.2 trillion in additional deficit reduction in the following 10 years. What the legislation does for you:

Health insurance reform puts American families and small business owners—not the insurance companies—in control of their own health care.

Making health insurance affordable for middle class and small businesses—one of largest tax cuts for health care in history—reducing premiums and out-of-pocket costs.

Giving millions of Americans access to affordable insurance choices just as big businesses have—through a new competitive health insurance market that keeps costs down.

Holding insurance companies accountable to keep premiums down and prevent denials of care and coverage, including for pre-existing conditions.

Improving Medicare benefits with lower prescription drug costs for those in the ‘donut hole,’ better chronic care, free preventive care, and nearly a decade more of solvency for Medicare.

Reducing the deficit by $143 billion over the next ten years, and by $1.2 trillion more over the following decade; reining in waste, fraud and abuse, paying for quality over quantity of care.

Failure to enact reform means continued double digit premium increases—some as high as 60%, arbitrary loss of coverage, and huge increases in the national deficit.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE LEGISLATION

How Reform Works For You:

Bill Text:

Bill Summaries:

CBO Score:

Summary Documents:

Provisions At A Glance:

Consumer Protections/Benefits/Wellness

Exchanges

Shared Responsibility & Affordability

Lowering Costs

Strengthening Medicare

For Businesses

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By Demographic

Paying for Reform

Support:

Around the Web:

Democratic Mayors Weigh In on Health Care Reform

HEALTH-CARE SUPPORTERS RALLY
Backers try to counter raucous town-hall meetings

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Published: Wednesday, September 2, 2009
By Jim Siegel and Jonathan Riskind

An enthusiastic crowd rallied in Columbus last evening in support of
President Barack Obama's drive to overhaul health care, hoping to take back
the momentum lost during weeks of sometimes angry public debate. "I'm
concerned that there is some perception that there is more opposition than
there really is," said Randy Morrison, 66, of Columbus, one of about a
thousand people to attend the evening rally at the Ohio Expo Center. "The
side in favor of it thought that when we elected President Obama ... this
was going to pass and we didn't need to do anything to make it happen."

But backers have learned that just because Democrats control Congress and
the Oval Office, that doesn't mean major initiatives won't get stuck in the
muck -- especially when there is a motivated opposition.

Lawmakers return to Washington next week, when efforts resume in the House
and Senate to craft a health-care package to lower costs and offer coverage
to most -- if not all -- 47 million uninsured Americans.

Organized by liberal groups, including the state chapter of Health Care for
America Now, the rally was part of a counterattack against conservative
critics of the overhaul pushed by Obama and congressional Democrats.
Organizing for America, Obama's political arm housed within the Democratic
National Committee, participated as part of its nationwide bus tour.