St. Louis began to buzz yesterday with the news that Barack Obama will visit here Saturday and address voters at noon under the Gateway Arch.
His Missouri campaign has been relentless in recent weeks, as has been his campaign outreach to the black press.
Last week he laid out his health care plan during a teleconference with approximately 50 African-American journalists from across the nation.
Obama cited health care cost as a culprit for the high numbers of uninsured Americans.
“The average premium has gone up by 100 percent n the average deductible has gone up 30 percent n just this year,” Obama said.
“But obviously, the African-American community continues to have poorer health and receive lower quality health care than other Americans, more likely to be uninsured n the death rate for cancer is one-third higher for African Americans than it is for whites and they suffer from higher rates of chronic illnesses, like heart disease and diabetes.”
To address those disparities and to provide relief for the middle class, Obama proposes a combination of employer incentives to provide health coverage, mandatory coverage for children, and government subsidies when needed for individuals and families.
Some direct quotes from responses to questions posed by black journalists, including a reporter from the American:
Lower premiums
“We are going to work to lower your premiums, your expenditures by up to $2,500 each year by investing in electronic health records and chronic care management prevention.” Obama said.
Covering the uninsured
“You’re going to be able to buy into the health care plan or a similar plan that I have as a member of Congress. And if you can’t afford it, we’ll subsidize you so that nobody in America should be wanting for health care if they are willing to go through these programs.,” Obama said.
Children’s Health Insurance Plan
“What we also want to do is expand health care for all children immediately through the S-CHIP program. And we are going to have a mandate when it comes to children,” Obama said. “We’re going to make sure parents n that you can afford health care but we also going to make sure that you are going to sign them up.”
Health care disparities
“I think a lot of the disparities right now that occur have to do not necessarily with explicit efforts against African Americans. It has to do with, generally, symptoms as a whole n our treating folks with the same degree of care. So what we need to do is get that information and start teaching hospitals and others how to improve their performance on these fronts,” Obama said.
AIDS education programs
“We are going to make sure that AIDS education programs are in the communities where we’ve seen the highest growth of AIDS n that we are making sure that regular screenings for things like prostate cancer and breast cancer, that occur at higher rates in the African American community n that all those are adequately funded at the front end so that we can save money on the back end.”
The McCain Plan
In contrast, Obama said, John McCain’s plan would make it worse for a lot of working families.
“He is going to give people a $5,000 tax credit n what he doesn’t say that he is going to tax health care benefits for the first time in history.” Obama said.
“It would also strip away a lot of the protections that states currently put in place to deal with abuses by the insurance companies n things like not paying claims because of preexisting conditions or otherwise sneaking in fine print, conditions on paying that end up make it really hard on families.”
The net cost of Obama’s health plan would be about $65 billion.
“The way we’re going to pay for it is we are going to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the top one-two percent of Americans so that they are paying the same rates they were under Bill Clinton,” Obama said.
He also wants to cut costs by eliminating programs such as the Medicare Advantage Program, which Obama described as a subsidy to insurance companies.
“It was pushed through by George Bush. It hasn’t saved any money or improved quality of care—so we’re going to change that,” Obama said.
Obama answers the American
I asked Obama how did his health plan address working families who are struggling to make ends meet n they have insurance, but the cost of deductibles and copays prevent them from getting the tests and treatment they need.
“We are going to provide strong incentives to make sure that prevention is covered n it’s one of the biggest problems in our health care system,” Obama said.
“We should make it free to go get screenings from your doctor and make sure that those are reimbursed because the more we do that, the more the system as a whole is going to save.”
The Obama health plan offers a 50 percent credit for small businesses that cannot afford to offer its employees health insurance and employee options for businesses with very low margins.
“What we are going to do is have the employee be able to join the federal health care plan, so it will be a group plan and it will be cheaper for them. Those who still can’t afford it, we will give subsidies to them so they can afford it. It’s very important for us to be sure we covering everybody, not just some.”
Listen to his complete healthcare teleconference with reporters at www.stlamerican.com. For a complete look at the Obama-Biden health care plan, visit barackobama.com or for a comparison, visit healtho8.org.
St. Louis began to buzz yesterday with the news that Barack Obama will visit St. Louis on Saturday and address voters at noon under the Gateway Arch.
His Missouri campaign has been relentless in recent weeks, as has been campaign outreach to the black press.
Last week he laid out his health care plan, which he believes will help millions of people looking for affordable health care, when he spoke during a teleconference with approximately 50 African-American journalists from across the nation.
Obama in St. Louis Saturday
Obama will speak at noon Saturday under the Gateway Arch. Gates open at 10:15 a.m. RSVP is encouraged but not required. To RSVP, visit barackobama.com