CUTTING HEALTH CARE COST

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The United States spends about 16 percent of the country’s gross domestic product on health care, significantly more per capita than any other nation. It is the only industrialized country that does not mandate access to health insurance for all citizens.
Since taking office, President Obama has said he would reform the health care system so that Americans can gain access to more affordable health care. Many presidents, with varying degrees of success, have tried to implement major health care changes. Health care has been among the most debated political topics since World War II as there are disagreements over whether all Americans should be required to have health insurance and over how much of a role the government should play in providing health care.
The Obama administration has said that reducing health care costs will play an important role in strengthening the American economy. On May 11, the president came a step closer to meeting that goal, by gaining support from an unlikely ally: health care providers. Representatives from hospitals, the insurance industry, pharmaceutical companies and others came to the White House to discuss ways they can help reduce health care costs by $2 trillion over the next decade.
“What’s brought us all together today is a recognition that we can’t continue down the same dangerous road we’ve been traveling for so many years; that [health care] costs are out of control; and that reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait,” Obama said.
By working together with health care providers, the president hopes he will be able to bring about significant reforms. President Obama has said he seeks a health care system in which all people can have coverage, but that does not mean the United States will switch to a system used by many European countries and Canada in which citizens are automatically given taxpayer-supported insurance.
For more on the health care debate in the United States, see “Reforming Health Care Will Strengthen Economy, Obama Says.”