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."

• Guarantee that insurance companies renew policies as long as premiums are paid in full.

Edmund Haislmaier of the Heritage Foundation, a think tank, said Congress already passed legislation with that requirement. "That problem got fixed about 15 years ago," he said.

• Cut costs to "help get our exploding deficits under control."

The Congressional Budget Office, however, recently projected the next decade would see a $2.7 trillion increase in federal spending related to the health care plan.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said none of the proposals being considered in Congress does enough to control costs. "In fact, by the president's own standard — that any health care reform must not increase the national debt and must reduce long-term health care costs — he wouldn't even be able to sign either of the bills we've seen so far," he said.

• Cost less than the Iraq war.

"You've been hearing these figures that say it's going to cost a trillion dollars for this new health care program," Obama said. "People think, well, we can't afford that; a trillion dollars, that's a lot of money. Just to keep it in perspective, that's a lot less than we spend on the war on Iraq."

The health care costs would be spread out over 10 years. According to the Congressional Research Service, Congress has approved $864 billion since 2001 for all the military operations launched after the 9/11 attacks, including $642 billion for Iraq.