President Obama Announces Bipartisan Health Reform Summit: "Put your ideas on the table"
February 8, 2010
Yesterday, President Obama invited Democratic and Republican leaders to a bipartisan, televised health reform summit to review the best ideas from both parties in order to move forward with passing reform. He challenged Republicans in particular to put their ideas on the table, in order to systematically examine the proposals and come up with a path forward.
The New York Times reported:
President Obama said Sunday that he would convene a half-day bipartisan health care session at the White House to be televised live this month, a high-profile gambit that will allow Americans to watch as Democrats and Republicans try to break their political impasse.
Mr. Obama made the announcement in an interview on CBS during the Super Bowl pre-game show, capitalizing on a vast television audience. He set out a plan that would put Republicans on the spot to offer their own ideas on health care and show whether both sides are willing to work together.
During the interview, President Obama reiterated his commitment to passing reform and explained how this summit will help get there:
"I want to ask [Republicans] to put their ideas on the table, and then after the recess, which will be a few weeks away, I want to come back and have a large meeting, the Republicans and Democrats, to go through systematically all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward.
…I want to look at the Republican ideas that are out there, and I want to be very specific. How do you guys want to lower costs? How do you guys intend to reform the insurance markets so people with preexisting conditions, for example, can get health care? How do you want to make sure that the 30 million people who don’t have health insurance can get it? What are your ideas specifically?
If we can go step by step through a series of these issues and arrive at some agreements, then procedurally, there’s no reason why we can’t do it a lot faster than the process took last year."
The bipartisan meeting is currently scheduled to take place on Thursday, February 25th.
President Obama Announces Bipartisan Health Reform Summit: "Put your ideas on the table"
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