Health Care Reform

President Obama health care reform speech in front of a joint session of Congress will be remembered for two things:

1. The President made a clear moral case for health care reform with a strong appeal of bipartisan action.

2. Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina behaved like an ass, yelling out "lie" as the president disputed claims that his plan would provide coverage to illegal immigrants.

The reaction to the speech from around the blogosphere and news media was very positive. CNN is reporting that 2/3 of watchers favor Obama's proposals-- a very positive reaction indeed.

Obama did four key things in the speech.

• He made the moral case for health care reform, referencing Senator Ted Kennedy many times throughout (read the Kennedy's letter to the president here), saying:

"We are the only advanced democracy on Earth – the only wealthy nation – that allows such hardships for millions of its people. There are now more than thirty million American citizens who cannot get coverage. In just a two year period, one in every three Americans goes without health care coverage at some point. And every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. In other words, it can happen to anyone."

• He made the reasonable case for bipartisanship saying:

"This is the plan I’m proposing. It’s a plan that incorporates ideas from many of the people in this room tonight – Democrats and Republicans. And I will continue to seek common ground in the weeks ahead. If you come to me with a serious set of proposals, I will be there to listen. My door is always open.....

But those of us who knew Teddy and worked with him here – people of both parties – know that what drove him was something more. His friend, Orrin Hatch, knows that. They worked together to provide children with health insurance. His friend John McCain knows that. They worked together on a Patient’s Bill of Rights. His friend Chuck Grassley knows that. They worked together to provide health care to children with disabilities."

• He demonstrated that he will no longer suffer fools:

"But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it’s better politics to kill this plan than improve it. I will not stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what’s in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.

Everyone in this room knows what will happen if we do nothing. Our deficit will grow. More families will go bankrupt. More businesses will close. More Americans will lose their coverage when they are sick and need it most. And more will die as a result. We know these things to be true."

• And he provided the Congressional Progressive Caucus the cover it needs to pass a plan with a strong public option:

"Now, I have no interest in putting insurance companies out of business. They provide a legitimate service, and employ a lot of our friends and neighbors. I just want to hold them accountable. The insurance reforms that I’ve already mentioned would do just that. But an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange."

See the full video and text of the Obama health reform speech here.

You can see the Obama health care reform plan here.

For more on the speech and the future of health care policy:

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