Obama takes health care pitch to N.C., Va.
WASHINGTON -- President Obama on Wednesday highlighted a host of "consumer protections" he said will be a part of health care legislation, casting the government's overhaul as a bid to provide financial security and peace of mind to the majority of people who already have health insurance.
"The reforms we seek will bring stability and security that you don't have today," he told a mostly supportive audience at Broughton High School in Raleigh, N.C. Later he went to Bristol, Va., to make the same pitch.
Obama focused on eight changes he said will improve care and save money for most families. Among them: a ban on lifetime caps on coverage, extended coverage for young adults to stay on family plans until they're 26, and a ban on refusing coverage to those with pre-existing conditions.
Here's a look at some of Obama's statements and promises and the context behind them. He said the health care overhaul would:
• Prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to those with pre-existing conditions or dropping those who become seriously ill.
As long as the bill keeps a requirement that everyone have health insurance, which would help defray insurers' costs because millions more would be paying premiums, then the "consumer protections" Obama outlined "are going to be in there," said Robert Zirkelbach of America's Health Insurance Plans. He said insurers support the measures Obama described.
"We agree that everybody should be able to get coverage," Zirkelbach said, but "to make these reforms work, there has to be a requirement that everybody participate."
• Require insurance companies to fully cover regular checkups and preventive tests such as mammograms.
Edward Howard of the bipartisan Alliance for Health Reform said he expects most of what Obama outlined to be in a final bill, but it's unclear how the government would define routine tests because there's disagreement about "which of the preventive services is cost-effective."
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