English subtitles for clip: File:2009-10-17 President Obama's Weekly Address.ogv

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The President:
Over the better part
of the past year,

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a great debate has taken
place in Washington and across

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America, about how to reform our
health care system to provide

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security for people
with insurance,

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coverage for those
without insurance,

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and lower costs for everyone.

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From the halls of Congress to
the homes of ordinary Americans,

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this debate has helped us to
forge consensus and find common ground.

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That's a good thing.

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That's what America's all about.

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Now, as the debate
draws to a close,

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we can point to a broad and
growing coalition of doctors and

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nurses, workers and businesses,
hospitals and even drug

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companies -- folks who
represent different parties and

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perspectives, including
leading Democrats and many leading

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Republicans -- who recognize
the urgency of action.

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Just this week, the Senate
Finance Committee approved a

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reform proposal that has both
Democratic and Republican support.

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For the first time ever, all
five committees in Congress

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responsible for health reform
have passed a version of legislation.

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As I speak to you today, we are
closer to reforming the health

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care system than we have
ever been in history.

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But this is not the time to
pat ourselves on the back.

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This is not the time
to grow complacent.

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There are still significant
details and disagreements to be

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worked out in the coming weeks.

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And there are still those who
would try to kill reform at any cost.

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The history is clear: for
decades rising health care costs

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have unleashed havoc on
families, businesses,

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and the economy.

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And for decades, whenever we
have tried to reform the system,

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the insurance companies have
done everything in their

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considerable power to stop us.

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We know that this inaction
has carried a terrible toll.

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In the past decade,
premiums have doubled.

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Over the past few years, total
out of pocket costs for people

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with insurance rose by a third.

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And we know that if we
do not reform the system,

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this will only be a preview
of coming attractions.

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A new report for the
Business Roundtable --

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a non-partisan group that
represents the CEOs of major

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companies -- found that
without significant reform,

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health care costs for these
employers and their employees

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will well more than double
again over the next decade.

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The cost per person for health
insurance will rise by about $18,000.

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That's a huge amount of money.

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That's going to mean
lower salaries and higher

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unemployment, lower profits
and higher rolls of uninsured.

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It's no exaggeration to
say, that unless we act,

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these costs will
devastate the US economy.

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This is the unsustainable
path we're on,

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and it's the path the
insurers want to keep us on.

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In fact, the insurance industry
is rolling out the big guns and

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breaking out their
massive war chest --

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to marshal their forces for one
last fight to save the status quo.

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They're filling the airwaves
with deceptive and dishonest ads.

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They're flooding Capitol Hill
with lobbyists and campaign contributions.

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And they're funding studies
designed to mislead the American people.

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Of course, like clockwork, we've
seen folks on cable television

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who know better, waving these
industry-funded studies in the air.

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We've seen industry insiders
-- and their apologists --

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citing these studies as proof
of claims that just aren't true.

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They'll claim the premiums
will go up under reform;

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but they know that the
non-partisan Congressional

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Budget Office found that reforms
will lower premiums in a new

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insurance exchange while
offering consumer protections

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that will limit out-of-pocket
costs and prevent discrimination

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based on pre-existing
conditions.

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They'll claim that you'll have
to pay more out of pocket;

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but they know that this is
based on a study that willfully

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ignores whole
sections of the bill,

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including tax credits and
cost savings that will greatly

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benefit middle class families.

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Even the authors of one of
these studies have now admitted

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publicly that the insurance
companies actually asked them to

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do an incomplete job.

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It's smoke and mirrors.

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It's bogus.

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And it's all too familiar.

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Every time we get close
to passing reform,

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the insurance companies produce
these phony studies as a

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prescription and say,
"Take one of these,

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and call us in a decade."

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Well, not this time.

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The fact is, the insurance
industry is making this

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last-ditch effort to stop reform
even as costs continue to rise

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and our health care dollars
continue to be poured into their

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profits, bonuses, and
administrative costs that do

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nothing to make us healthy --
that often actually go toward

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figuring out how to
avoid covering people.

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And they're earning these
profits and bonuses while

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enjoying a privileged exception
from our anti-trust laws,

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a matter that Congress
is rightfully reviewing.

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Now, I welcome a good debate.

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I welcome the chance to defend
our proposals and to test our

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ideas in the fires
of this democracy.

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But what I will not abide are
those who would bend the truth

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-- or break it -- to score
political points and stop our

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progress as a country.

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And what we all must oppose are
the same old cynical Washington

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games that have been played for
decades even as our problems

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have grown and our
challenges have mounted.

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Last November, the American
people went to the polls in

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historic numbers
and demanded change.

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They wanted a change
in our policies;

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but they also sought a change
in our politics: a politics that

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too often has fallen prey
to the lobbyists and special interests;

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that's fostered division
and sustained the status quo.

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Passing health insurance
reform is a great test of this proposition.

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Yes, it will make a profound and
positive difference in the lives

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of the American people.

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But it also now represents
something more: whether or not

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we as a nation are capable
of tackling our toughest

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challenges, if we can serve the
national interest despite the

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unrelenting efforts of
the special interests;

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if we can still do
big things in America.

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I believe we can.

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I believe we will.

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And I urge every member of
Congress to stand against the

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power plays and
political ploys --

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and to stand up on behalf the
American people who sent us to

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Washington to do their business.

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Thanks.