President Barack Obama continues to use Congress’s August recess to advance his vision for reforming the U.S. healthcare system with different constituencies.
Obama was to participate in a conference call Wednesday with faith leaders to discuss reform issues, the White House said.
The president “will talk about the importance of providing access to affordable health insurance for millions of those that currently don’t have it,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Tuesday during a media briefing.
Gibbs said he expected Obama would display “boring consistency” in his message of “ensuring that we cut costs, ensuring that we take the steps that are necessary to relieve the burden on families and small business.”
Gibbs fielded persistent questions from reporters about whether Obama had changed his position that a public health insurance option was a necessary component of healthcare reform legislation.
Obama has consistently said a public option is preferable, and also has said his goals were to increase competition and lower heath insurance costs, Gibbs said during the briefing that turned testy at times.
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