U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday his healthcare plan would provide basic coverage to all Americans.
Speaking to C-SPAN, the president said that the time is ripe for healthcare reform because the the industry itself realizes that the current system is unsustainable, The Hill reported.
“The fact that we’ve got hospitals and doctors who also recognize that the system is unsustainable on its current path, fiscal conservatives who recognize that the single biggest component of driving down our deficits and long-term debt is getting control of Medicare and Medicaid costs, and that healthcare reform is critical to bend the curve,” Obama said. “All those things I think are converged.”
The Hill reported Obama conceded that pushing healthcare reform through Congress would be politically difficult.
Obama said his plan will preserve patient choice of doctors and plans, and will put money into wellness and prevention programs.
“Then what we want to do is also to make sure that everybody has basic coverage,” Obama said. “Now, they may not have the gold-plated Cadillac health insurance, but it doesn’t make sense in a country as wealthy as ours that if you are working full time, you should be able to afford healthcare.”
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