>> thank you. thank you very much. thank you very much. thank you. thank you very much. madam speaker, vice-president biden, members of congress, and the american people, when i

spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the great depression. we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. credit was frozen, and our financial system was on the verge of collapse. as any american who was still looking for work or a way to pay their bills would tell you, we are by no means out of the woods. a full and vibrant recovery is so many months away. i will not let up until those americans who seek jobs can find them. [applause] beeuntil those businesses that k

capital and credit can thrive, until all responsible homeowners can stay in their homes, that is our ultimate goal. thanks to the bold and decisive action we have taken since january, i can stand here with confidence and say we have pulled this economy back from the brink. [applause] now, i want to thank the members of this body for your efforts and your support in these last several months and especially those who have taken the difficult votes that have put us on the path to recovery. i also want to thank the american people for their patience and resolve during

this trying time for our nation. but we did not come here just to clean up crises. we came here to build a future. so tonight i return to speak to all of you about an issue that is central to that future. and that is the issue of health care. i am not the first president to take up this cause but i am determined to be the last. the president: it has now been nearly a century since theodore roosevelt first called for health care reform. and ever since, nearly every

president and congress, whether democrat or republican, has attempted to meet this challenge in some way. a bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by john dingeller is in 1943, 65 years later his son continues to introduce this same bill at the beginning of each session. our collective failure to meet this challenge year after year, decade after decade, has led us to the breaking point. everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. these are not primarily people on welfare, these are middle

class americans, some can't get insurance on the job, others are self-employed and can't afford it since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get are your employer -- get from your employer. many other americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous illnesses or conditions that insurance companies decide are too risky or too expense to have cover. we are the only democracy, the only advanced democracy on earth, the only wealthy nation that allows such hardship for millions of its people. there are now more than 30 million american citizens who cannot get coverage and 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.

the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem for the uninsured. those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. more and more americans worry that if you move, lose your job or change your job you'll lose your health insurance, too. more and more americans pay their premiums only to discover that their insurance company has dropped their coverage when they get sick. or won't pay the full cost of care. it happens every day. one man from illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gal stones that he didn't even know about. they delayed his treatment and he died because of it. another woman from texas was about to get a double mastectomy when her insurance company canceled her policy because she forget to declare a case of acne. by the time she had her insurance re-instated, her breast cancer had more than doubled in size.

that is heartbreaking, it is wrong and no one should be treated that way in the united states of america. then there's the problem of the rising cost. we spend 1 1/2 times more per person on health care than any other country but we aren't any healthier for it. this is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone up three times faster than wages. it's why so many employers, especially small businesses, are forcing their employees to pay more for insurance or are dropping their coverage entirely.

it's why so many aspiring entrepreneurs cannot afford to open a business in the first place and why american businesses that compete internationally, like our automakers, are at a huge disadvantage. and it's why those of us with health insurance are also paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it. about $1,000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care. finally, our health care system is placing an unsustainable burden on taxpayers. when health care costs grow at the rate they have, it puts greater pressure on programs like medicare and medicaid. if we do nothing to slow these skyrocketing costs, we will eventually be spending more on medicare and medicaid than every other government program combined. put simply, our health care problem is our deficit problem. nothing else even comes close. nothing else.

now, these are the facts. nobody disputes them. we know we must reform this system. the question is how? there are those on the left who believe that the only way to fix the system is through a single-payer system like canada's where we would severely restrict the private insurance market and have the government provide coverage for everybody. on the right there are those who argue that we should end employer-based systems and leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own. i've said, i have to say that there are arguments to be made for both these approaches. but either one would represent a radical shift that would disrupt the health care most

people currently have. since health care represents 1/6 of our economy, i believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't. rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch. and that is precisely what those of new congress have tried to do over the past several months. during that time we've seen washington as its best and at its worst. we've seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform. of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed their work and the senate finance committee announced today that it will move forward next week.

that has never happened before. our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses, hospitals, seniors' groups an even drug companies, many of whom opposed reform in the past. and there is agreement in this chamber on about 80% of what needs to be done. putting us closer to the goal of reform than we have ever been. but what we've also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain many americans have toward their own government. instead of honest debate, we've seen scare tackics. some have dug into unyielding ideological camps that offer no hope of compromise. too many have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points even if it robs the country of our opportunities to solve a

long-term challenge and out of this blizzard of charges and countercharges, confusion has ranked. well, the time for bickering is over. the time for games has passed. now is the season for action, now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together. and show the american people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. now is the time to deliver on health care. now is the time to deliver on health care. the plan i'm announcing tonight would meet three basic goals. it will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance. it will provide insurance for those who don't. and it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses and our government.

it's a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge. not just government, not just insurance companies, but everybody. including employers and individuals. and it's a plan that incorporates ideas from senators and congressmen, from democrats and republicans and, yes, from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election. here are the details that every american needs to know about this plan. first, if you are among the hundreds of millions of americans who already have health insurance through your job, or medicare, or medicaid, or the v.a., nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.

let me repeat this. nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have. what this plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. as soon as i sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. they will no longer be able to

place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. we will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out of pocket expenses, because in the united states of america no one should go broke because they get sick. insurance companies will be required to cover with no extra charge routine checkups and preventive care like mammograms and colonoscopies. because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse. that makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives.

that's what americans who have health insurance can expect from this plan. more security and more stability. now, if you're one of the tens of millions of americans who don't currentry have health insurance, the second part of this plan will finally offer you quality, affordable choices. if you -- if you lose your job or you change your job, you'll be able to get coverage. if you strike out on your own and start a small business, you'll be able to get coverage. we'll do this by creating a new insurance exchange, a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. insurance companies will have an incentive to participate in this exchange because it lits them compete for millions of new customers asms one big group, these customers will

have greater leverage to bargain for better prices and better coverages. this is how large companies and government employees get affordable insurance. it's how everyone in this congress gets afordable insurance. it's time to give every american the same opportunity we give ourselves. for those individuals and small businesses who still can't afford the lower priced insurance available in the exchange, we'll provide tax credits the size of which will be based on your need. all insurance companies that want access to this new marketplace will have to abide by the consumer protections i already mentioned. this exchange will take effect in four year, which will give us time to do it right. in the meantime, for those

americans who can't get insurance today because they have pre-existing medical condition, we'll immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become ill. it was a good idea when senator mccain proposed it during the campaign, it's a good idea now. now, even if we provide these affordable options, there may be those, especially the young and healthy, who still want to take the risk and go without coverage. there may still be companies that refuse to do right by their workers, by giving them coverage. the problem is, such irresponsible behavior costs all the rest of us money.

if there are affordable options and people still don't sign up for health insurance, it means we pay for these people's expensive emergency room visits. if some businesses don't provide workers' health care, it forces the rest of us to pick up the tab when their workest get sick and gives those businesses an unfair advantage over their competitors. unless everybody does their part, many of the insurance reforms we seek, especially requiring insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions, just can't be achieved. that's why under my plan, individuals will be required to carry basic health insurance, just as most states require you to carry auto insurance. likewise, businesses will be required to either offer their workers health care, or chip in to help cover the costs of their workers. there will be a hardship waiver for those individuals who still

can't afford coverage and 95% of all small businesses, because of their size and narrow profit margin, would be exempt from these requirements. but we can't have large businesses and individuals who can afford coverage game the system. by avoiding responsibility to themselveses or their employees. improving our health care system only works if everybody does their part. while there remains some significant details to be ironed out, i believe a broad consensus exists for the aspects of the plan i just outlined. consumer protections for those with insurance. an exchange that allows individuals and small businesses to purchase affordable coverage, and a requirement that people who can afford insurance get insurance. i have no doubt that these reforms would greatly benefit

americans from all walks of life as well as the economy as a whole. still, given all the misinformation that's been spread over the past few months, i realize that many americans have grown nervous about reform. so tonight i want to address some of the key controversies that are still out there. some of people's concerns have grown out of bogus claims spread by those whose only agenda is to kill reform at any cost. the best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts but by prominent politicians that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens. such a charge would be laughable, fit weren't so cynical and irresponsible. it is a lie, plain and samplee.

-- plain and simple. now, there are also those who claim that our reform efforts would insure illegal immigrants. this, too, is false. the reforms -- the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. it's not true. and one more. -- one more misunderstanding i want to clear up. under our plan no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions and federal conscience laws will remain in place. now -- now my health care

proposal has also been attacked by some who oppose reform as a government takeover of the entire system. as proof, critics point to a provision in our plan that allows the uninsured and small businesses to choose a publicly sponsored insurance option. administered by the government just like medicaid or medicare. so let me set the record straight here. my guiding principle is, and always has been that consumers do better when there's choice and competition. that's how the market works.

unfortunately, in 34 states, 75% of the insurance market is controlled by five or fewer companies. in alabama, almost 90% is controlled by just one company. without competition, the price of insurance goes up and quality goes down. it makes it easier for insurance companies to treat their customers badly, by cherry picking the healthiest individuals and trying to drop the sickest, by overcharging small businesses who have no leverage and by jacking up rates. insurance executives don't do this because they're bad people. they do it because it's profitable. as one former insurance executive testified before congress, insurance companies are not only encouraged to find reasons to drop the seriously ill, they are rewarded for it. all of this is in service of meeting what this former executive called wall street's

relentless profit expectations. 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 i've already mentioned would do just that. 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. now let me be clear.

let me be clear. it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. no one one force -- would be forced to change it. it would not affect those of you who already have insurance. based on congressional budget office estimates, we believe that less than 5% of americans would sign up. despite all this, the insurance companies and their allies don't like this idea. they argue these private companies can't fairly compete with the government. and they'd be right. if taxpayers were subsidizing this public insurance option. but they won't be. i've insisted that like any private insurance company, the public insurance option would have to be self-sufficient and rely on the premiums it collects. but by avoiding some of the overhead that gets eaten up at a private company by profits, excessive administrative costs and executive salaries, it could provide a good deal for consumers.

it would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies afordable and treat their customers better, the same way public colleges and university prossvide additional choice and competition to their students without inhibiting the vibrant system of private colleges and universities. now, it's worth noting that a strong majority of americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort i proposed tonight. but, its impact shouldn't be exaggerated by the left or the right or the media. it is only one part of my plan. and shouldn't be used as a handy excuse for the usual washington ideological battles. to my progressive friends i would remind you, for decades, the driving idea behind reform

has been to end insurance company abuses and make coverage available for those without it. the public option -- the public option is only a means to that end. we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal. and to my republican friends, i say that rather than making wild claims about a government takeover of health care, we should work together to address any legitimate concerns you may have. now -- for example, some have suggested the public option go into effect only in those markets where insurance companies are not providing affordable policies. others have proposed a co-op or another nonprofit entity to administer the plan. these are all constructive

ideas worth exploring. but i will not back down on the basic principle that if americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice. 8:45. and, and i will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need. finally, let me discuss an issue that is of great concern to me, to members of this chamber and to the public. and that's how we pay for this plan.

here's what you need to know. first, i will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficit, either now or in the future. i will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit now or in the future. period. and to prove that i'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promise don't materialize. now, part of the reason i faced a $1 trillion deficit when i walked in the door of the white house is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for. from the iraq war to tax breaks for the wealthy.

i will not make that same mistake with health care. second, we've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system. a system that is currently full of waste and abuse. right now too much of the hard-earned savings and tax dollars we spend on health care don't make us any healthier. that's not my judgment, that's the judgment of medical professionals across this country. and this is also true when it comes to medicare and medicaid. in fact, i want to speak directly to seniors for a moment. because medicare is another issue that's been subjected to demagoguery and distortion during the course of this

debate. more than four decades ago this nation stood up for the principle that after a lifetime of hard work, our seniors should not be left to struggle with a pile of medical bills in their later years. that's how medicare was born. and it remains a sacred trust that must be passed down from one generation to the next. and that -- that is why not a dollar of the medicare trust fund will be used to pay for this plan. the only -- the only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud as well as unwarranted subsidies in medicare that go to insurance companies, subsidies that do everything to pad their profits but don't improve the care of seniors. and we will also create an independent commission of

doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead. now, these steps will ensure that you, american seniors, get the benefits you've been promised. it will ensure that medicare is there for future generations. and we can use some of the savings to fill the gap in coverage that forces too many seniors to pay thousands of dollars a year out of their own pockets for prescription drugs. that's what this plan will do for you. so don't pay atext to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut. especially since some of the same folks who are spreading

these tall tales have fought against medicare in the past. and just this year supported a budget that would essentially have turned medicare into a privatized voucher program. that will not happen on my watch. i will protect medicare. now, because medicare is such a big part of the health care system, making the program more efficient can help usher in changes in the way we deliver health care that can reduce costs for everybody. we have long known that some places like the intermountain health care in utah or the health system this in rural pennsylvania offer high quality care at costs below average. so the commission can help encourage the adoption of these commonsense best practices by

doctors and medical professionals throughout the system. everything from reducing hospital infection rates to encouraging better coordination between teams of doctors. reducing the waste and inefficiency in medicare and medicaid will pay for most of this plan. much of the rest would be paid for with revenues from the very same drug and insurance companies that stand to benefit from tens of millions of new customers. this reform will charge insurance companies a fee for their most expensive policies which will encourage them to provide greater value for the money. an idea which has the support of democratic and republican experts. and according to these same experts, this modest change could help hold down the cost of health care for all of us in the long run. finally, many in this chamber, particularly on the republican side of the aisle, have long insisted that reforming our

medical malpractice laws can help bring down the costs of health care. there you go. there you go. i don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet. but i've talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs. so i'm proposing that we move forward on a range of ideas about how to put patient safety first and let doctors focus on practicing medicine. i know that the bush administration considered authorizing demonstration

projects in individual states to test these ideas. i think it's a good idea and i'm directing my secretary of health and human services to move forward on this initiative today. now, add it all up and the plan i'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years. less than we have spent on the iraq and afghanistan wars and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few americans that congress passed in the beginning of the previous administration. now, most of these costs will be paid for with money already being spent but spent badly in

the existing health care system. the plan will not add to our deficit, the middle class will realize greater security, not higher taxes, and if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just 1/10 of 1% each year, it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long-term. now 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 know this, i will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than to improve it.

i won't 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 this 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 needed it the most and more

will die as a result. we know these things to be true. that is why we cannot fail, because there are too many americans counting on us to succeed. the ones who suffer silently and the ones who share their stories with us at town halls and emails and letters. i received one of those letters a few days ago. it was from our beloved friend and colleague, ted kennedy. he had written it back in may shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. he asked that it be delivered upon his death. in it he spoke about what a happy time his last months were, thanks to the love and support of family and friends, his wife vickie, his amazing children, who are all here tonight. and he expressed confidence

that this would be the year that health care reform, that great unfinished business of our society, he called it, would finally pass. he repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity but he also reminded me that it concerns more than material things. what we face, he wrote, is above all a moral issue. at stake are not just the details of policy but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country. i've thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days. the character of our country. one of the unique and wonderful things about america has always been our self-reliance, our ruggle individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government. and figuring out the

appropriate size and role of government has always been a source of rigorous and, yes, sometimes angry debate. that's our history. for some of ted kennedy's critics, his brand of liberalism represented an affront to american liberty. in their minds, his passion for universal health care was nothing more than a passion for big government. 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 or enhatch, he knows that -- oren hatch. he 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 grassley knows that. they worked together to provide health care to children with disabilities. on issues like these, ted kennedy's passion was born not

of some rigid ideology but of his own experience. it was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. he never forget the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance, what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent, there is something that could make you better, but i just can't afford it. that large heart of his, that concern and regard for the polite of others is not a -- plight of others is not a partisan feeling. it's not a republican or a democratic feeling, it, too, is part of the american character. our ability to stand in other people's shoes, a recognition that we are all in this together, that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lends a helping

hand. -- to lend a helping hand. a belief that in this country hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play and an acknowledgment that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise. this has always been the history of our progress. in 1935, when over half or our seniors couldn't support themselves and million hassd seen their savings wiped away, there were those who argued there were those who argued that social security would lead sm. but the men and women of congress stood fast and we are all the better for it. in 1965, when some argued medicare represented a government takeover of health care, members of congress, democrats and republicans, did not back down. they joined together so all of us could enter our golden years with some basic peace of mind.

you see, our predecessors understood that government could not and should not solve every problem. they understood that there are instances when the gains in security from government action are not worth the added constraints on our freedom. but they also understood that the danger of too much government is matched by the perils of too little. that without the levening hand of wise policy, markets can crash, monopolies can stifle competition. the vulnerable can be exploited. and they knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or ben efficient, is corned, -- is scorned, when any effort to meet american needs are scorned, when facts are thrown overboard and we can no longer engage in civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter, at that

point we don't merely lose our capacity to solve big challenge we lose something essential about ourselves. that was true then. it remains true today. i understand how difficult this health care debate has been. i know that many in this country are deeply skeptical that government is looking out for them. i understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road. to defer reform one more year. or one more election. or one more term. but that is not what this moment calls for. that's not what we came here to do. we did not come to fear the future. we came here to shape it. i still believe we can act, even when it's hard.

i still believe, i still believe that we can act when it's hard. i still believe we can replace act ro -- acrimony with civility and gridlock with progress. i still believe we can do great things and that here and now, we will meet history's test because that's who we are. that is our calling. that is our character. thank you. god bless you. may god bless the united states of america. thank you. thank you.

>> charles boustany congressman from the district from the region is about to give a response. i am a heart surgeon with more than 20 years of experience where i saw firsthand the need to lower health costs. republicans are pleased that president obama came to the capital tonight.

we agree that much needs to be done to lower the cost of health care for all americans. republicans already and we have been ready to work with the president for reforms that our nation can afford. afford is an important word. our country is facing many challenges. the cost of health care is rising, spending is soaring, we are putting huge debt on our children. families are struggling with more than 2.4 private sector jobs lost -- 2.4 million private sector jobs lost. the people want their elected leaders to get health care reform right. many americans wanted president obama to tell congress is time to start over on a common sense, bipartisan plan focused on lowering the cost of health care while improving quality. that is what i have heard in

talking to thousands of my constituents. replacing your family's current health care with government-run health care is not the answer. it will make health care much more expensive. that is not just my personal diagnosis as a doctor or a republican. it is the conclusion of the nonpartisan congressional budget office, the scorekeeper that determines the cost of major bills. i read the bill that democrats passed in july. it creates 53 new government bureaucracies, adds hundreds of billions to our national debt, and raises taxes on job creators by $600 billion. and a cut medicare by $500 billion while doing virtually nothing to make the program better for our seniors. the president had a chance tonight to take the government- run health care off the table.

he did not do it. we can do better with a targeted approach that tackles the biggest problems. here are four important areas where we can agree right now. one, all individuals should have access to coverage regardless of pre-existing conditions. two, individuals, small businesses, and other groups should be able to join together to get health insurance at lower prices, the same way in labor unions do. 3, which can provide assistance to those who still cannot access a doctor. after you are, insurers should be able to offer incentives for wellness care and prevention. that is something that is particularly important to me. i operated on too many people who could have avoided surgery if they simply made healthier choices later in life we do have ideas that the president has not agreed with. we hope the president is serious

about liability reform. we need to establish tough standards, in courage a speedy resolution of claims, and deter lawsuits that drive up the cost of care. real reform must do this. let's also talk about letting families and businesses buy insurance across state lines. i and many other republicans believe that that will provide real choice and competition to lower the cost of health insurance. the president disagrees. you can read more about all these reforms at health care .gop.gov. these are common sense reforms that we can achieve right now without destroying jobs, exploding the deficit, rationing care, or taking away the freedoms that american families cherish. this congress can pass meaningful reform soon to reduce the fear that families are feeling in these very difficult times. working together in a bipartisan

way, we can truly the with the cost of health care while improving quality for the american people. i am dr. charles boustany. thank you for listening. >> you have heard the president, the republican response, and now we want to hear from you. we want to know specifically what would you put in a health care plan. the president has laid down his marker, the house has passed a bill, the senate finance committee is laying down its marker next week. what would you put in a health care plan? the numbers for those who are in shortsured, uninsured, and healh care workers are on your screen

the president addressed health care as a deficit problem. he talked about everyone taking responsibility. he talked about medical liability. he preferred to august as a partisan spectacle in some respects. according to several tweets that we have gotten, if you heard that during his talk about illegal aliens and health care, a member of congress yelled out, "you lie." first on our insured line is john. please go ahead. would you put in a health care reform plan? >> i would certainly like to see medical liability reform as part of that plan. >> why? >> i think it would reduce cost. i did think that the president

was misleading people about the number of insured people who would lose their coverage. 15 million people who had insurance would lose it under a public option. >> why do you say that could >> the congressional budget office says so. it also says that when this plan is fully operational, 37 million people still would not have insurance. >> do you think is important that everybody be insured? >> i think everybody that wants insurance should be able to have insurance. >> affordable insurance? >> shore, but there are other ways to do it could not a government-run option. it is not effective. the government does not run things affectively. it should be done by the private sector. >> besides the medical liability

issue, if you think everybody should be allowed insurance, how would you propose doing that? >> i think people should be able to pull together. there are certainly health savings accounts and more ways to make it more affordable. >> thank you for calling in this evening. the work, what would you like to see in health care reform policy? >> am i on the air? >> you are. >> i thought his speech was wonderful. i have been recently divorced and i am currently covered under cobra. it is costing me over $700 a month, and i am on a very limited in come because of what

my husband has done for me. >> what would you like to see when it comes to insurance reform? >> i would like to see a public option because in may 2011, i am going to be in really bad shape. >> so you are supportive of the public option? >> yes. >> wallace in south carolina, please go ahead. >> i would just like to commend the president on what he said tonight. especially concerning the public option. i see this as a way for insurance companies to lower premiums knowing that there will be a public option not funded by the government, meaning it is not going to cost the taxpayers anything, but be able to get

insurance to those who do not have any if it wanted to go to a place where they couldn't pay for what the insurance costs. >> you said you are currently insured. how much are you paying? >> i am retired military. i pay $465 a year. >> are you happy with it? >> yes. >> are you fearful at all of losing that under the health care reform? >> not at all. >> would you be willing to pay more to help uninsured people? >> absolutely. but i am an insurance broker and then know what health care insurance costs for individuals. it is outrageous. even a health savings plan, it is too high. >> how much more would you be willing to pay? >> for myself? i would go up another $400.

>> thank you for calling in. if you want to send usa tweet, our general twitter address is just c-span. no hyphen, just cspan. >> we could save half a trillion a year in the public sector and end the war on drugs according to [unintelligible] >> so you think that would be a good way to raise money for health care reform? >> yes. also, covering alternative therapies and insurance considering the price of vitamin e against heart surgery. often, alternatives to patients who prefer metrician it instead

of surgery as obama aptly put. half of the time, the alternative will work. >> we will leave it there. president obama's speech, the text of it, the video, and the republican response are available on our website. we have a health care hub there on the front page. we have taken everything that we have covered on health care reform over the last several months. it is on the side and has been synthesized a little bit so you can easily find things. it is our health care hub. paul from richmond, va. >> hi. >> what would you like to see and health care reform? >> i would like to see

republicans more forthcoming and respectful when the president speaks. i saw somebody looking down at his black. when he was talking. >> he was tweeting. >> i find it disrespectful. [unintelligible] >> when it comes to health care reform, what would you like to see? how would you like to see it reformed? >> republicans should be more proactive. they should come to the table with actual proposals. >> such as what? >> they should try to figure out the math instead of act in complete disarray and not be helpful. >> jim is a physician in connecticut.

doctor, would you like to see when it comes to health care reform? >> thank you for asking. i am a primary-care physician and that would like to see people work together to try to make things more efficient and provide care to all americans. i think three ways can help this happen. first, there should be targets for health insurance companies to increase their enrollment if they fail to increase their enrollment, they would have a penalty and that would go to help subsidize the public health option people who cannot afford care from the insurance industry. it would also encourage the insurance companies to provide plans that would be more affordable rather than excluding those people who cannot afford the very expensive plans and to try to market only the most

expensive plans. the second thing i think would be helpful, i believe we physicians practice the way we are taught. i think by putting more effort on trying to find those ways of dealing with an honest and promoting health that are most cost effective, gets the best results would help us to focus on reimbursing better in those areas that are most deficient in providing care rather than supporting those methods of fighting care that are the most expensive, which is the way our system works now. thirdly, i think we need to help promote primary-care physicians. the rest of the world that provides better medical care for less money are all primary

care -driven. only 2% of graduating physicians are going into primary care because reimbursement is so low. a family physician makes $170,000. you start out as a radiologist twice that amount. that makes more people go into specialty, driving up the care. >> i think tort reform is important. all doctors have ordered expensive, unnecessary tests because we are afraid of that one in a million. it is a horrible experience for physicians to go through. there are no winners. tort reform, i think, would be another area that would be beneficial to help promote more

efficient health care that would be provided to all americans. >> do you take patients who are on medicare and medicaid? >> i take patients who are on medicare, patients who were on medicaid for 25 years. the reimbursement is way below the cost that it comes to -- that it costs me to deliver the care. it has been my feeling that the government should be able to pay for health care as well as the most expensive health care companies provide. i think it is outlandish that the government has chosen to try to save money by nickleing and diming reimbursement to medicaid. it cuts off access to people.

>> you have quit taking them? >> i have quit taking them. the reimbursement should be the same for medicaid as it is for anthem bluecross or any of the other insurance companies. >> if you have for patient, all have the same procedure, one is medicare, medicaid, cash, private insurance, are those four different rates that you get paid for progress yes, there are four different rates. >i cannot negotiate with insurance companies. >> thank you for your input this evening our next call comes from tampa, fla., a registered nurse. what would you like to see in health care reform, if anything? >> i would like to see a public option. i work in a hospital.

i am a certified, a registered nurse. i have seen people losing health care insurance. when they lose their insurance, hospitals are "required to stabilize them and then let them go." what is happening in many of the emergency rooms, very sick people come and they need treatment. they don't have health insurance. so they'd load them up on fluid, give them some aspirin, send them out the door, and then they later died of a heart attack or high blood pressure. maybe they should have been admitted but day on not having any incentives to admit these patients. the senses that the hospitals are having right now is affecting all of the health care

workers. it is affecting doctors, nurses, technicians because there are not enough patients to take care of. they are sending workers home way too early. there are losing their homes. it is just a mess because the economy is so bad. >> so you see the public option as a way to give insurance to everybody. >> yes, i do. >> thank you for calling in this evening. you have heard of the group, the blue dogs. one of their members is from north dakota. congressmen, you voted against hr 2200. did the president assure you at all tonight? >> hello, can you hear me?

>> yes, sir. >> i thought the address was extraordinarily affected. i thought he took the issues head-on, address them. the issue that had me voting no was basically the rate that the public plan option would pay hospitals and doctors, similar to medicare, which brings into the system of the inequities of medicare. it would benefit our hospital that you had a public plan option. part of the speech when he says the public plan option, this is a good idea. it is going to add competition. there are several ways we can do it. we can use a trigger. we can use a co-op. the president made it clear that

the construction of this reform was not a make or break element of passing the health care reform. we as the blue dogs have an opportunity to amend that part, make it work in our rural areas. i certainly think the president's call to action on this critical issue for so many families was something that might kickstart action. >> you probably followed the senate action today. how do you feel today about what max baucus has laid out publicly? >> i have been very interested for the work of the senate finance committee. i commend max baucus and others that have been working in a bipartisan basis, thoroughly, quietly trying to work through

the elements to achieve health care reform. if we get to what the president is talking about, fundamentally providing security so that if you have insurance, you know it will never be taken away or you will never hit limits. we are going to take action to try to slow down the skyrocketing health-care costs. i believe that those three goals have advanced a long way. i think these are ideas that will be thoroughly considered, may actually represent the blueprint of what congress most likely will pass. >> a member of the blue dog coalition, thank you very much. back to your phone calls on what you would like to see in health care reform, if any thing.

we are asking if you are insured to call on one line, uninsured on another, and health care workers on the third line. go ahead, sherry. you like the public option? >> yes. i have been injured since 1982. i have had cobra, company insurance, private insurance, and now i have medicare and social security and what is left of my 401k plan. for now, the public option is the thing to go with. these people need help. they are losing their jobs and have nowhere to go and are sick. >> are you happy with medicare? >> yes. i have had no trouble with it.

>> would you be willing to pay more for a public health option? >> i pay $42 a month right now for extra insurance. i pay for my regular medicare coverage. i would go up another $100 a month. >> you could afford it? >> yes, i would. >> to help other people get insured? >> yes. >> thank you for calling in. linda from south dakota. go ahead. >> good evening. there are three things i would like to see. these three things would not cost anything right off the bat and then a people have heard it over and over again for reform, of course. i stomp my toe, give me a million dollars, that sort of thing. i heard them mention that the health exchange would help competition. if you opened up state lines and

there was a company that charged the $500 for a policy and a company in tennessee that charged $200, i could get that one. that is competition. the third thing is the fraud. medicaid and medicare are rot with fraud. all these things don't cost anything and it would be a really good start. illegal aliens are covered. they go to the emergency room. that is not going to change either way. the last thing i would like to mention, i had to have stitches one time and went to the doctor. he put the stitches in. when i went in there, he took them and read them off my head and charge me $500. that also has to be addressed. >> why are you on insured? >> by an uninsured because i

cannot afford it. b, god has blessed me with great health. >> do you worry about it on a regular basis? >> no. >> you worry about being uninsured? >> no, i am perfectly healthy. >> and knock on wood. manhattan, new york, robin. >> i am uninsured. >> that is ok. please go ahead. >> one thing that i hope is included is dental care. i don't hear anybody talk about that. i have not worked since christmas. i applied for medicaid and they told me my unemployment pays me $21 a month too much to be ok for medicaid. so i don't have anything. i have some raging dental

problems that i just cannot do anything about. >> so you would like to see dental care included? >> yes. >> why are you uninsured? >> i am not working. i have not worked since christmas. i am collecting unemployment and and looking for work but i do not have anything. i am stuck. unemployment does not even cover my bills as it is. i am trying very hard to hang on to my apartment. it is really ridiculous now to make ends meet. >> do you foresee health-care reform will pass this year? >> i can only hope and pray that it does. the military gap called it a little while ago, he was paying less than $500 a year, i thought that was amazing. that is totally reasonable i

don't know what he has to pay for bells on top of that or whatever. that seems really, really fair. the woman that just called saying all of this fraud. i don't know about fraud. i just know that there are a lot of the people that need coverage. >> another committee and the house that passed a health care reform bill is the energy and commerce committee. the ranking member is a congressman from texas. congressman, did he reassure you at all? >> i have to be real honest with you and your listeners. the bill or the plan that the president spoke of this evening is not the one that passed out of that committee on the first of august. the president paused general

rhetoric, i think myself -- the president's general rhetoric, i think myself and both democrat and republican sides would be generally supportive of. but when he gets into the specifics, the rhetoric does not match the reality of the bill coming out of the committee. there is just no way to reconcile it. >> what discrepancies did you see specifically? >> there is no deficit financing. his own cbo as it is going to be $2 billion or $3 billion in added spending. the illegal immigrants are going to receive benefits, -- there is a sentence in the bill that they

can receive the benefit -- there is a sentence in the bill that says they cannot receive the benefit but there is no enforcement. the democrats voted that down. that they are not going to take any money out of medicare. there are cuts. i could give you i number of other instances. >> the president called his bill or what the talk about this evening -- he called it deficit- neutral, now and in the future. >> that is not the bill that came out of the energy and commerce committee. >> the second thing he talked about was, he called what has been going on so far as a partisan spectacle. do you agree with that? >> i have been invited to the white house twice for basically

photo opportunities. i have not been allowed to participate in any negotiations of putting the build together. >> when do you predict that the house will debate on the floor? >> i asked the chairman of the committee, mr. waxman that day, and his answer was he did not know. i am really trying to be as quiet as i can because i respect the president of the united states as a person and respect the office of the president of the united states, but the speech that i heard this evening is one of the more surreal speeches that i have ever heard from any president in the 25 years i have been in congress. it sincerely does not reflect

the substance of the legislation that has been presented by democrat leadership in the house of representatives. it is a disservice to the american people who are taking the time to download teh bill, the amendments, to read it. this is too important an issue to try to give a spin control speech. that speech this evening wasa spin control speech. >> we have been getting a lot of messages saying congressman joe wilson should be censored for yelling out when the president was talking about illegal aliens. were you sitting near him? was he the one that yelled that? >> i don't know how to respond to that because it is a true

statement. we offered an amendment in committee to implement an enforcement mechanism to verify citizenship. the democrats on the committee voted it down. the bill that has come out of all three committees in the house has a sentence that says amnon citizens cannot receive medical benefits but none of the bills have enforcement mechanisms to implement that. unless the president's supports an enforcement mechanism, a specific language to put it in, the bill that comes on the floor unless they make an amendment and people vote for it will not have an enforcement mechanism. what the president said is at best only part of the story. if you take it in a fatality, it -- in totality, that this bill becomes law, it would give

medical benefits because there is no way to require for verification of citizenship. >> thank you for spending a few minutes with us. back to your phone calls and what you would like to see in a health care reform bill. we have a position on the line from miami. would you like to see with health care reform? >> i kind of agree with the congressman with the speech. what he was talking about makes sense in theory but until you actually match patients with the cost of what things are and get that third party out of it, i do not think you will see a true reduction in cost. people are not assisting what these things cost versus -- >> do you treat uninsured patients could >> yes, i do. i get a salary from the hospital

so i treat whoever comes through the door. >> why are you employed to the hospital and not through private practice? >> there are certain positions that are hospital-based and is cost effective for us to be employed by the hospital. >> does it give you more of a life also? >> it depends. it is a double edged sword. if the place is really busy, we stayed longer. it is a good and a bad thing. >> did you see our special last week on medicare? >> yes, i did. >> is there anything you disagree with? >> i see a lot of callers calling in and talking about medicare and how they loved it. i think the actual system is great.

medicare is funded by the government. you don't have negotiating power with them. people do not realize how they are tied to insurance agencies. medicare bases its rates of what private people paid positions. if they undercut it -- you get a shift towards just like what happened with medicaid. >> thank you, doctor, from miami, fla. burlington, vt., miles, please go ahead. >> i was interested in hearing the president's remarks tonight. i live in vermont and we have a pretty great public health care option. >> are you in short through that? >> i am not actually. >> why? >> i was going to be because i was not employed for a while.

fortunately, i recently got a job that pays for my expenses. unfortunately, that puts me out of the range for qualifying for coverage. now i am in a situation of having to find private insurance which is going to be much more expensive. i am not a fan of the current system we have. what mostly disappoints me about current plans is to operate within the rules that already exist. we talked about putting in new public insurance options but not coming up with new ways of paying for health care, which is, i don't think, particularly surprising. i think president obama could be talking so much about a coherent plan as people have been saying that there is no coherent plan. there are many different options

floating around out there which contradicts broadly what the president has been saying. i think they contain a language that would force a person to stick with their employers insurance even if it is less beneficial. that makes things worse for the under employed. >> bonnie sent a tweet. corinne, from georgia. go ahead. >> good evening. i wanted to say that i really enjoyed the president's speech i think it has set aside my concerns. one of the things that i am very concerned about is that there are so many people who are not insured and the public option to me would be the best way to get

people who have no insurance at least some insurance. >> what kind of insurance do you have? not the company, but do you have a full plan? >> i have an insurance plan to my employer. it is a fascinating concept. it is pretty good insurance. my agency does pretty good. >> what kind of work do you do? >> i am the director of a group home. i deal with kids who are on medicare all the time. i deal with doctors who do not take medicaid. i think what people need to realize that even though medicaid is a federal program, it is mandated by individual states. they decide how they want to carry it out. >> you, as a private employee, would you be willing to pay more

to help get other people in short? >> of course i would because we have to take care of those who are less fortunate. to me, -- i can make a general adjustment like that, but to me, if we cared about folks who are less fortunate, we would be willing to do whatever we need to do to help others. when we help others, we are helping ourselves. i see a lot of people who go to the emergency room who are going there for their primary care. they don't have insurance. i see people who have insurance but they cannot afford the copays or whatever. they also use the a emergency room. that drives up the costs for everyone co. >> hr3200 is the house bill that

is available online on our health care hub. it has passed in three different variations by three different committees in the house. congressman anthony wiener, a democrat from new york, voted for it. congressman, what did the president say tonight that you agree with? what did you disagree with? >> i think the president did a good job explaining to a lot of americans why we need to do any thing, explaining that you are paying an extra amount for those who are not paying for insurance. he made an excellent argument that frankly only a president can make on why we need to act. i think he characterized a plan that i support, a single payer

plan, a little dismissively and saying it would be a canadian plan. it would be just like medicare, extended to all americans not based on your employer. he did ultimately make a very persuasive argument that i think is hard to refute about the need for a public option to provide competition to hold insurance companies honest, to drive down prices. i was very pleased with his speech. you see why so many people respond to the president so well because he understands how to communicate these important concepts. i think a lot of americans after hearing and the shouting and name-calling benefited from the leadership tonight. >> if you could expand to all of us just a little bit, the president kept talking about his bill. the house committees have

passed one, the senate finance is working on one, how does that -- how does this fit into the legislative process? >> he did refer to his plan frequently in very general terms. i think he laid out the element that he would like to see for whatever the final product is. frankly, most of the elements if not all that he described were in one plan or another before congress. he expressed a willingness to explore tort reform in the context of this legislation. that is one element that would have to be included. right now, the president has taken a hands-off approach to the congress and its representatives and their constituents have the first whack in drawing up the outlines of the bill. you are right. there isn't a presidential draft of this bill anywhere out there.

>> do you agree with the president's approach politically? >> i think the time for the hands off had to end tonight. it being at many town hall meetings in my district over the month of august, there was a lot of misunderstandings but i think it was a valuable process to go through. i have watched c-span and see people call in with concerns. now we need the president to do what only presidents can do. listen, this is what i need to see in a bill. i would like him to talk about the public option, but i think he took on a very tough issue. he deserves credit for stepping up to the plate tonight. >> a lot of progressive democrats have said that they will not vote for the a bill if it does not include the public

opption. >> i have not seen anything that does real cost containment besides the public option. if you do not have that, i think an important element of this bill is lost because costs will continue to go out. i am going to be offering a substitute of my own that has a lot of support in congress that expands medical coverage. i think that is the way to go. i don't not -- i don't know why we put hundreds of billions of dollars into the pockets of insurance companies when that should go into health care, tax cut, or anything. i think cost savings cannot be sustained in the bill. >> we look forward from hearing from you again as this debate continues in congress and around the nation. time for a couple of more calls. what would you like to see and

health care reform? >> yes, i observe all of our clinics in our psychiatric practice. i see people treated with dignity and respect, homeless people. >> please go ahead. >> i work for the government. people are treated well. our physicians, our salaries, and they do an excellent job for the people they serve. >> that said, what kind of reform would you like to see? >> well, being very liberal, i would like to see doctors sa laried. >> queensland, n.y. predict what would you like to see? >> hello.

i wanted to thank you so much for your program. what i would like to see and this health care reform bill is the cost -- is the constitution. i want to make sure that this is constitutionally sound. i am very nervous about big government. i am very uncomfortable with the fact that some of the things the president was talking about this evening. i can still see the president looking into the camera and saying i promise you there are no earmarks in this bill. i really have to wonder how much of what he is saying is his own fantasy of what he would like this to be and what is actually in this bill and how it will actually play out. >> you are uninsured. why? >> yes, i am. i lost my job in december.

luckily, i am in very good health but i will be pursuing other types of health care. i do not want the government involved in that process. >> that is about it for tonight. it is about 9:55 here on the east coast. if you go to our health care hub site, you will find the president's speech, all of our coverage over the last several months. he will find it all right there. it is right there on the home page. it is a very comprehensive site. this conversation will continue tomorrow morning on "the washington journal." there will be a couple of guests talking about health care reform. max baucus, the senate finance

chair, held a press conference earlier today. we want to show you that along with some other health care reform tapings that we did. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> the time has come for action, and we will act. we must move forward if we want to get this bill done by the end of the year. i just met with my colleagues. i will put out a mark early to middle of next week. this is our moment. we have spent many weeks and months on this issue and now is the time to move forward. >> [unintelligible] >> i very much hope and i expect there will be some republicans when i issued the market next week -- when i issue the mark

next week. i am going to move forward anyway. we have to move forward. i told chuck that about an hour ago and mentioned it to key senators. i very much hope and you expect republicans will be on board. i don't know how many. if there are not any, i will move forward in any event. >> does that mean there is one more week to go for the bipartisan talks? >> it means there is quite a bit of time left for bipartisan support. i very much hope and expect to find some republicans to be on the mark. after the mark, we go to mark-

up. there is still plenty of time for republicans to join. maybe a republican senator will offer an amendment in order to support the bill. it is hard to say. one, i am moving forward. i look forward to having some republicans participating. >> what do you think will be -- what do you think you will be marking up? >> i will probably put down something similar to the proposal that i issued saturday night, early sunday morning, fairly similar to that. i think that is close to a measure that will pass both the committee and the senate. i am not about to put in a problematic provisions that will not pass the committee or the

senate could it will be fairly close. >> it sounds like no public option. >> did you get suggestions this morning by 10:00 from some republicans? >> yes. there were proposals submitted. in fact, they all did. they gave me many ideas. we are going to me this afternoon -- we are going to meet this afternoon. >> are you disappointed that you came out to say we are moving forward with or without republicans instead of saying we have a deal with republicans? >> no, not disappointed at all. we have all invested so much time and effort in this. i know that several of my

republican colleagues very much want to be a part of this. they know and i know there is still time between now and when we vote on the final bill that is marked up in a couple of weeks. there is different language, different ways of saying it, and what not. darkest before the dawn. i do expect there will be some common on board later. earlier is better than later. . .

i >> hey, we're moving ahead. thank you. >> thank you, senator.

>> a proposal. this event is about 40 minutes. >> on behalf of more than 1.3 mill minimum americans who signed a petition, i am very proud to be a part of delivering to the congress of the us -- ultsults

including cancer patients and survivors. still more are senior citizens who are worried about cuts in medicare and the closing of their private medicare insurance plans. an enormous number of americans are concerned about their health care. whatever their principle concern, the signers of free our health care petition share a common belief that congress should not increase the role of government in their health care decision. these americans do want health care petitions, but the petition they signed states they want four elements. they want the right to choose any doctor and any health

insurance plan. they want access to treatment without delay or even more important, without denial. fairness. the same tax breaks that people get in business should come to people who want health care. finally, responsibility, control over our own health care decisions, talking to our doctors, talking to our families, and making the decisions that are the best for each of us. these elements are not radical, nor are the people who support them. the 61,000 pages are the names of individuals who members of congress should not forget as they prepare to vote on legislation in the nation's health care reform. doris, a senior citizen who told us, "i am 81.

i have heart surgery. i have crippling arlingt rightis, but i am -- arthritis, but i am not on my deathbed yet." she said given her medical history, i would be sentenced to death by the health care. nancy from north arlington, new jersey, a cancer survivor worried about her care. at 60 she is actively employed, but she wrote, "i am terrified that if i -- my cancer comes back i will not get treatment under a government-run health care plan." lorraine lived there 40 years and she is now a proud american citizen in their attempt to

participate in the process, they have been maligned by politicians and described as angry protesters, town hall mobs. no less than the leader of the house of representatives has called them "unamerican." they are not unamerican." they are interested in getting a better system and keeping it under our own control. so today is their day. today is the day that congress is going to hear their voice, a voice from 1.3 million americans that say, "free our health care."

a long time ago, because of mike, our free our health care, we thought we had done very well. of course, we've come a long way. in surpassing that goal, mike and mike gallagher showed they could unify thousands of americans and convince them they can form this petition. i am pleased to have him make some remarks. mike? >> thank you. this is a terrific day for american voices, because talk radio has played a big role in fighting back. and we decided as the summer began that this could be the summer of the american voice, and the summer when millions of americans would be heard. and to collect one million plus

signatures over a couple months period of time is a pretty extraordinary position -- response to the way democrats envisioned health care reform. we fought hard, we interest vide a lot of people, and through my radio show's nc. a, this is the result. where again the summer of tea parties and opposition and the spirit of american voices was heard. and despite what the president may or may not say, the people have been represented by this amazing health care petition. the largest petition ever presented to the congress in the history of the united states. we're very proud of that. we're proud of what we have accomplished. this is going to continue. it doesn't end now. americans don't want a socialized government take-over of their health care. they don't want a government bureaucracy that tells them when they may or may not get treated.

what you see before you on this stage is an example of elected representatives who heard us, a group of radio talk show hosts who also joined our effort to free our health care now dot com. and for all of us have been demonized by the left, one that comes to mind, we are proud to be a part of the effort to say, we stand tall for the american public. we deliver a message to washington that says, no, give us back our health care. give us our choices. give us health care the way we want it. we're proud to be here today. god bless you for your support, and god bless america. thank you vemp. [applause] >> mike, thank you for all those comments.

i'm knew -- now going to briefly introduce members of the house who are going to speak to us briefly about what they stee happening in the congress and what they think about free healthcarenow plan. these will include senator kay bailey-hutchison. she gets a special award, because texas had 165,000 people sign the petition, and that's the biggest group that there is. senator jim demint from north carolina. representive tom price from georgia. representative pete sessions from texas. john shay. there he is right there. the newest arrival.

so they will make some comments to you in order. so john. i was at a tea party on saturday with 18,000.

on behalf of all of us, i want to say to the 1.3 million people that signed these petitions, we will not let you down. [applause] >> let me introduce the house whip eric cantor. i would like to present the largest petition drive ever. i am told we are over 1.3 million individuals and counting. that's extraordinary. that is democracy at work. that will allow us to stand up and propose that we give the

american people some graurnts. -- some guarantees. that we will bring along our colleagues, and the majority of our colleagues in the houps -- house of representatives to insist that we will not see a government option. that we will not see a government trigger. that we will not see a government replacement of the health care system in this country. [applause] >> this petition drive also has been successful because it -- what we are anxious to do tonight is to listen to this president and hope that he will begin to focus on areas of agreement. this campaign and this petition has demonstrated there are certainly areas of agreement in this country where we can begin to make the health care better for all americans. but we must make sure the

priority is not just on getting it done. that we get it right. [applause] >> it is now my honor to present senator kaye bailey-hutchison. >> they gave me a t-shirt that says a lot about what many americans feel about this. national health care, a lethal injefpblgts thank you very much.

they have shown a grassroots movement saying, we don't want our health care hijacked. 85% of the people in this country like their health care. so why don't we try to fix the 15% that isn't right and not ruin the 85% who really like what they have? that should be the goal of health care reform, and we can do it if we work together. this is a grassroots movement. this is the most legitimate grassroots movement i have seen in my entire time in public service. people are coming to meetings who maybe had gotten complacent. who maybe thought everything was going to be ok in our country. then they started seeing that our health care, the most personal of all things to us, is going to be ruined by a government take-over, and people understand it.

and let me say this -- we have alternatives. we can reform for the 15% who don't have or don't like their health care. we can do it with bills like senator demint's that i'm co-sponsoring. that will allow every person to have a tax credit, a voucher, to give to a family or a person to buy their own health care, and they can take it with them for their lives so they will know what they have, they will be able to bond with their doctor, get the care they need, and be able to be on a level playing field with everyone else who has health care. it also has medical malpractice form -- reform, which we must do. so let's band together, keep our grassroots movement going, and let's take our health care system back. fix what's wrong and keep the part that's good for everyone else in america intact. that would be the bipartisan solution. thank you very much.

and my good friend, leader of the house ways and means committee. >> thank you senator. governor dupont and the leadership of the ncpa and to all the distinguished voices both in the congress and in the public debate. i am honored to be a small part of the delegation that is receiving this extraordinary voice of the american people. this historic petition marks a book end on a period in our national history this august when the american people have made their voices heard as never before. when i was home in indiana at town hall meetings, they want to

see this congress take actions that will lower the cost of health care. but as these over one million petitions attest, the american people don't want a government take-over of health care at a price tag of $800 billion in higher taxes every year. the american people have spoken and continue to speak. the only question today is the congress convenes in an extraordinary and joint session. now that the american people have spoken at town hall meetings and by these petitions, is washington, d.c. listening? stay tuned. but make no mistake about this -- in this cause, republicans in washington, d.c. are on the side of the american people, and we are the -- and we are on the side of freeing our health care now. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, mike. in my office when we get a letter or an e-mail or a qual, we feel there are at least 100 people that feel the same way. this 1.3 million probably represents at least 130 million americans. probably a lot more than that, as we see the polls around the country. i think what we see in these boxes are a fundamental shift of power. from this capitol behind us, this nation's capitol here to the american people. people are standing up all over the country not just about health care, but about freedom overall, about the growth in government, the spending, the debt we're cumulating. they don't like the direction of our country. they are standing up, speaking out, and they are going to take their country back. a big part of that effort has been these folks behind me and out all over the country, radio talk shows who are increasingly

more informed, using information from blogs, actual bills that are loaded up. fox shes cable, and other cable tv's tv's, people are more informed, more engaged, more outraged, and more activated. these boxes precede tens of thousands of people who are coming to washington this week to let their voices be heard. when americans stand up and speak out, there is nothing we can't do, and there is nothing more important now than to sfop the government take-over of health care and keep the best health care system in the world. thank you. [applause]. >> governor dupont and dr. goodman, thank you so much for bringing your petitions to -- the petitions to washington, d.c. during the month of august, the american people's voice was undenyable. -- undeniable.

the american people asked questions about what this health care proposal would mean. quite simply, i think it boils down to three questions -- what is the role of government? what is the promise that government would make when they engage themselves in health care for all? we look up and see where massachusetts, a small state, has tried same or similar. they are $9 billion in debt, and it crowds out their responsibilities to public ed gation and public safety and other essential elements the government must perform. secondly, the relationship that a doctor would have with their patient. this is something that every single american has understood is not a privilege but is a right. we understand that the government would be making decisions instead of a patient and that wonderful doctor who they had chosen.

and lastly, the question as it comes to how will we possibly pay for this when america is engaged in the largest unemployment in 26 years? we need to have a plan to make health care better. but not one where government would become the responsibility party in a position that they can not sustain in the long run. so to hugh hewitt and mike gallagher, we say thank you. thank you not only to the american public, but for bringing this message so loud and clear to washington, d.c. we get it. thank you. i would like to introduce one of the leading idea makers in the united states congress. he's a republican from arizona, he's my dear friend, john shadduck.

>> thank you, pete. i want to begin by thanking dr. john goodman. the work he has done has made this effort possible. this is a unique moment in american history. it is a unique moment because the people are actually speaking out and making their voices heard. over a million of them took the time to read this petition, to understand the health care debate in america and to speak out. and as mike pens -- pence said, the question now is, is washington listening? let me make one thing clear. you may have been told that health care is complicated. and you may have told yourself, what does "free our health care now" mean? it means one thing -- it will change health care in america that doesn't exist today and is the cause of all of our problems. you know what that one thing is? patient choice.

in america today the vast majority of health care is bought by your employer for you. he or she buys a plan, you don't get to know what is in that plan until after the purchase has been made. the plan hires a doctor. you don't get to pick that doctor. the employer picked the plan, the plan picked the doctor, and you are out of the ewagse croatian. if you are unhappy with the service, too bad. if it denies you care you think you are entitled to, too bad. you get to go to your employer and complain. that is not the way this economy works on any other issue. we have a series of four demands on the petition. it really comes down to this. if we put the american people back in charge, let them make choices, then the insurance market wlg have to respond -- market will have to respond,

costs will come down, and quality will go up. we as republicans can do that. we as republicans can say there is disagreement on some issues. i hear some people say what about preexisting kigs additions? every bill, whether it is tom price's or john shad did egg's, every -- shadegg's, every single one of those bills enshures people will get insurance at cost. scompever bill covers every single american. go get them. go read thefment it covers every single uninsurance shured american. and we don't put them in a government program. we give them choice. the same choice we want for our health care. [applause]

>> dr. tom price of georgia. >> thank you so much. i am so pleased to join my friends and colleagues to accept the 1.3 million signatures on the petitions to talk about one of the most important issues facing americans today, and that is whether or not the government will be making health care decisions. as a physician, i know that when i would treat my patients that one of the things that would make them be most angry is when they understood that it was either the government or insurance companies that were making decisions for them and that they weren't able to make on behalf of themselves or their family. there is this notion out there that it is the government in charge or the insurance companies in charge. the fact of the matter is, there is a better way. there is the right way, a correct way, and that is a third way that butts patients in charge. patients and their families in charge. [applause]

>> there are positive solutions. and we put them on the table. we put solutions on the table that will make sure every single american has the opportunity to purchase insurance they choose. we put solutions on the table that solves the portability challenge. you ought not lose your insurance if you change your job. there are ways to solve that that doesn't put the government in charge. medical decisions that patients ask their families and caring and compassionate decisions ought to be making those zigs, not folks in the buildings around here. and we have addressed the challenge of lawsuit abuse that is driving up the cost of health care in this nation. with you put all those solutions on the table without raising your taxes one penny. i thank you all for coming out

here today. i thank all the individuals in involved in the "free our health care now" effort. this issue will be decided this fall with your help. we will move in the right direction, which is the patient direction. god bless you. >> thank you, representative price. i'm john goodman. i'm president for the national policy analysis. we are interested in working with scholars around the nation to find solutions to these difficult problems. because of our concept of health savings accounts, there are 12 million americans now managing their own health care dollars. we need to liberate employers and employees. we need to allow employees to help their employees obtain insurance which is personal and portable which they can take with them from job to job as they go in and out of the labor market.

we need to allow individuals and small businesses to do what other companies can do, and that is buy insurance in a national market. we need to have tax fairness so that people that have to buy their own insurance get the same tax breaks as people that get insurance through an employer. over the latcht three months we have been working with radio tax show hosts across the country. there are four that want to talk to you this afternoon. there are dennis praeger, michael medved, and they have you will played an important role in making possible these signatures. they talk to people every day on the radio. dennis, where are you? [applause] >> i have been given two minutes, so here it goes. number one, we're told that the moral issue is the one that is owned by those that think that increased government taking care of americans is -- that's the

moral way to go. the moral issue is not owned by the left. increasing government is not a moral idea. i have a motto and i believe it, and the history of the world since the early 20th century believes it, the bigger the government, the smaller the citizen. people get worse as government gets better. that is why we have such passion on this issue. [applause] >> we want americans taken care of. republicans don't want health? what are people f -- what are they nuts? we care less about our families than democrats do? is that insane? this moral issue does not belong to the left. it belongs to the right on this issue. because when government gets bigger, people get smaller, because they learn that the government and the state will take care of my neighbor, not me. that's the biggest lesson of all of this. [applause] >> you raise an american generation to believe they don't

have to do anything for their neighbor because the government will do it. that's why americans give far more charity per capita than western europeans, because the western european knows the government will take care of my neighbor. i don't have to. we have the moral idea, we who want smaller government and bigger people. that's why 1,300,000 people signed an arcane petition. who ever thought people would get so passionate about a health care bill? it is because our listeners and we who broadcast know how much is riding on this. let me tell you one other thing -- these are not insurance executives in here. these are not rich people in here. this is your neighbor in here, even your unemployed neighbor whose name is on this bill. and i'll tell you one other person whose name is on this bill, my own cardio dr. a

cardiothoracic surgeon in sant monica. he voted for barack obama. i am taken care of by a liberal doctor. he has both written and gone on my show to say he regrets that vote because of the utter damage that would be done to american medicine. that's why we're here today, and i thank you. now, it is a pleasure to introduce -- i wish i could introduce all my colleagues, but we're going to do one by one, michael medved. when ever any of us need to know a fact, we call michael. the only member of congress to have attended yale law school with hillary clinton, michael medved. >> thank you. this on the surfraste face of it doesn't -- surface of it doesn't it seem like an uneven debate? tonight the president of the united states, the leader of the free world, with his magnificent

elegance is going to be speaking to the entire world about his vision for bigger government involvement in health care. and here we are with 1.3 million individual americans, ordinary people, the same kind of people, ordinary people who came out at tea parties, who came out at town meetings, who made themselves known, who expressed themselves. seems terribly uneven. except it is a tremendously important demonstration of two different visions of health care and of society. one vision is top down. you make a big decision in congress, you make a big decision in the administration, and the rest of the country has to follow. more regulation. more tax money. more direction from the top. the other decision -- the other

vision, is from the bottom up. ordinary americans making decisions for themselves, taking initiative for themselves, choosing their own health care, choosing their own doctors. why not do it the american way. president reagan said every important change in america begins with a discussion at the dining room table. people are talking about this all around the country. we are talking about it today. let us put forward that vision and fight for that vision, and despite the seeming imbalance, we can win on this because america has always been a country that brought about change and fought for freedom from the bottom up. somebody else who understands that, my colleague, and the best lawyer by far on talk radio, hugh hewitt. >> thank you, michael. in this 1.3 million signatures,

there are hundreds of thousands of signatures of seniors. i want to pause on that for a moment. seniors are right to be very concerned. you cannot take hundreds of millions of dollars out of medicare and not diminish the quality of care. the president has desserted these seniors, the aarp has desserted these seniors, but the national center for policy analysis has not. and as 1.3 million signatures underscores, if this goes forward, the only thing bipartisan thing going on on the hill is bipartisan opposition to this bill. there is bipartisan opposition to it, there is senior opposition to it, there is middle class opposition to it, there is opposition to it represented by every democrat grarving in the country. i thank everyone for coming out to watch this today. to conclude this talk show roundtable, janet parshal hads

been doing this longer than any of us. >> you put all these tock show hosts together, you could say, whoa, what a lot of hot air! even though the first thing we do is talk, we listen. and we have been listening to our audience who is not somebody who is a swastika wearing, gun toting, fringe member of the right being moved by some meglomaniac in suburban washington, d.c. these are people who have said enough is enough. i would venture to say that for all of us collectively and our influence does go from all over the united states from onend to the, i would have to sayed vast majority of people listening to our radio didn't want to get involved in politics. if you get 20 to 30 people to show up at town hall meeting, that's a good day. why do you think 400 and 500

people are showing up? this is because this has gone to the core of self-governans tpwh this country, who we are, what we will be, and how we will govern ourselves. this is symptommatic of a bigger disease. there is a rampant disease in washington. it is called tone deafness. let's hope these public servants who work for us will stop talking at us, will start listening to us, and will help us work to the ways of our own households. thank you. [applause] >> that's a pretty good group. i'm going to close in a few moments, but if there are any questions from the press, the people here would be glad to take them.

>> up next on c-span, president obama speaks to congress from tonight on health care. then we will hear the republican response from representative boustany. and we'll take your phone calls on health care legislation. >> 1.7 million new immigrants each year. half are followers of islam. immigration, islam, and the west from "weekly standard" senior editor christopher caldwell. >> next president obama's speech from tonight laying out his health care priorities to a joint session of congress.

>> madame speaker, the president of the united states! [applause] [applause]

[applause]

[applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. [applause]

thank you. >> members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor to present to you the president of the united states. [applause]

>> thank you. thank you so much. thank you very much. please be seated. madame speaker, vice president biden, members of congress, and the american people. when i spoke here last winter, this nation was facing the worst economic crisis since the great depression. we were losing an average of 700,000 jobs per month. credit was frozen, and our financial system was on the verge of collapse. now, as any american who is

still looking for work will tell you, we are by no means out of the woods. a full and vibrant recovery is so many months away. and i will not let up until those americans who seek jobs can find them. [applause] until those businesses that seek capital can fly, until all those home owners can stay in their homes, that is our goal. but thanks to the bold and decisive action we have taken since january, i can stand here with confidence and say we have pulled this economy back from

the brink. [applause] >> i want to thank the members of this body for your everts and your support in these last several months, and especially those that have taken the difficult vote that have put us on the path that recovery. i also want to thank the american people for their patient and resolve during -- patience and resolve during this trying time in our nation. we did not come here just to clean up crises. we came here to build a future. so tonight i return to speak to all of you about an issue that is central to that issue, and that is the issue of health care. i am not the first president to

take up this cause, but i am determined to be the last. [applause] [applause] >> it has now been nearly a century since theodore roosevelt first called for health care reform. and ever since, nearly every president in congress, whether democrat or republican, has attempt today meet this challenge in some way. a bill for comprehensive health reform was first introduced by john dingle senior in 1943. 6r5 years later, his -- 65 years later, his son continues to introduce that same bill at the beginning of each session.

[applause] >> our collective failure to meet this challenge year after year, decade after decade has led us to the breaking point. everyone understands the extraordinary hardships that are placed on the uninsured who live every day just one accident or illness away from bankruptcy. these are not primarily people on welfare, these are middle class americans. some can't get insurance on the job. others are self-employed and can't afford it since buying insurance on your own costs you three times as much as the coverage you get from your employer. many americans who are willing and able to pay are still denied insurance due to previous conditions that insurance companies do decide are too risky or are too expensive to cover. we are the only democracy, the

only advanced democracy on earth , the only wealthy nation that allows such hardship for its citizens. there are now 35 million american citizens who cannot get coverage. in just a two-year period 1-3 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. but the problem that plagues the health care system is not just a problem for the uninsured. those who do have insurance have never had less security and stability than they do today. more and more americans worry if you lose, change your job you'll lose your health insurance, too. more and more americans pay their premiums to discover their

insurance companies won't cover the full cost when they get sick. it happens every day. one man from illinois lost his coverage in the middle of keem therapy because his -- chemotherapy because his ings company found he had had kidney stones he never knew he had. he died because of it. a woman was denied coverage because she did not declare a state of ack any. by the time she had her insurance re-instated, her breast cancer had doubled in size. that is wrong, and someone should be treated that way in the united states of america. [applause] [applause]

>> then there was the problem of rising costs. we spend 1.5 times more per person on health care than any other country, but we aren't any healthier for it. this is one of the reasons that insurance premiums have gone unthree times faster than wages. it's why so many employers, especially small businesses, are forcing their employees to pay more for insurance or are dropping their coverage entirely. it's why so many aspiring entrepreneurs cannot afford to open a business internationally, and why some bitses like our auto makers are at a huge disadvantage. and it is why those of us with health insurance are paying a hidden and growing tax for those without it. about $1,000 per year that pays for somebody else's emergency room and charitable care.

finally our health care system is placing an unsust sustainable burden on health care workers. if we do nothing to slow these skyrocketing costs, we will eventually be spending more on medicare and medicaid than every other government program combined. put simply, our health care problem is our deficit problem. nothing else even comes close. [applause] many >> now, these are the facts. nobody disputes them. we know we must reform the system. the question is, how? there are those on the left who believe the only way to fix the system is through a single payer

system like canada's where we would severely restrict the private insurance market and have the government provide coverage for everybody. on the right, there are those who argue we should end employer-based systems and leave individuals to buy health insurance on their own. i have said -- i have to say that there are arguments to be made for both of these approaches, but either one would represent a radical shift that would disrupt the health care most people currently have. since health care represents one-sixth of our economy, i think it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't. rather than build an entirely new system from the start.

[applause] >> that is precisely what those of you in congress have tried to do over the past several months. during that time we have seen washington at its best and at its worst. we have seen many in this chamber work tirelessly for the better part of this year to offer thoughtful ideas about how to achieve reform. of the five committees asked to develop bills, four have completed the work, and the senate finance committee announced today that it will move forward next week. that has never happened before. our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and workers, hospitals and senior groups. many of whom who have opposed reform in the past. and there is agreement in this chamber on about 80% of what needs to be done putting us closer to the goal of reform

than we have ever been. but what we have also seen in these last months is the same partisan spectacle that only hardens the disdain that many americans have toward their own government. instead of honest debate, we're seeing scare tactics. some have dug into unyielding ideological cam camps that offer no hope of compromise. too many of these have used this as an opportunity to score short-term political points even if it robs our country of the opportunity to solve a long-term challenge. and out of this blizzard of charges and counter charges, confusion has reigned. well, the time for bickering is over. now is the season for action. now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together and show the american people that we can still do what we were sent here to do.

now is the time to deliver on health care. now is the time to deliver on health care. the plan i'm announcing tonight would meet three basic goals. it would provide more stability and security to those who have health insurance. it will provide insurance for those who don't. and it will slow the growth of health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government. it is a plan that asks everyone to take responsibility for meeting this challenge, not just government, but everybody, including employers and individuals. it is a plan that incorporate rates ideas from senators and republicans, from democrats and republicans, and yes from some of my opponents in both the primary and general election.

here are the details every american needs to know about this plan. first, if you are among the hundreds of millions of americans who already have health insurance through your job or medicare or medicaid or the v.a. nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the tr that you have. [applause] >> let me repeat this. nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have. what this plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. under this plan it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition. [applause]

>> that is i sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. [applause] >> they will no longer be able to place an arbitrary cap on the amount you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. [applause] >> we will place a limit on how much you can be charged on out-of-pocket expenses, because in the united states of america no one should go groke broke