Washington, February 28: US President Barack Obama announced that he is ready to come to terms with Republicans if they prove to be serious about it, but maintains that his health care overhaul has to go forward.
Two days after an all-day bipartisan summit, Obama held his weekly Internet and radio address. His comments during the address were the latest indicators that Democrats are trying to plow sweeping health care legislation through Congress with no Republicans on board.
After a year of corrosive debate and a Senate special-election upset that threw the overhaul effort into limbo last month, colossal efforts will be required on the part of Obama and Democratic leaders in Congress to round up votes.
Obama and the Democrats, however, reject the piecemeal approach sought by Republicans and have no intention of scrapping their 10-year, USD 1 trillion bill and starting over as the GOP demands.
“I am eager and willing to move forward with members of both parties on health care if the other side is serious about coming together to resolve our differences and get this done. But I also believe that we cannot lose the opportunity to meet this challenge,” Obama said, according to The Washington Post.
“The tens of millions of men and women who cannot afford their health insurance cannot wait another generation for us to act. Small businesses cannot wait. Americans with pre-existing conditions cannot wait. State and federal budgets cannot sustain these rising costs.
“It is time for those of us in Washington to live up to our responsibilities to the American people and to future generations,” Obama said. “So let’s get this done.”
Obama’s health care legislation would insure over 30 million Americans over 10 years with a new requirement for almost everyone to carry insurance and would end insurance company policies such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions.
However, Republicans are against mandates that allow everyone to get insurance and even though they say they want people with pre-existing conditions to be able to buy insurance, they would try to address the problem without new requirements on insurance companies.
Obama will most likely unveil an update proposal this Wednesday, according to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. It would cover concepts put forward by Republicans at the summit, Gibbs suggested.
——Agencies