Obama to urge Congress that a ’season for action’ on health care has arrived

Obama to urge Congress for action on health care

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama summoned Congress to join in a “season for action” on health care Wednesday night, urging lawmakers to set aside partisan gamesmanship in favor of drafting legislation that benefits millions who have insurance and many more without it.

“I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last,” Obama said in excerpts released by the White House in advance of a speech to a joint session of Congress and a public grown increasingly skeptical of his plans.

Obama’s speech came at the end of a summer of setbacks and as the president and his allies in Congress readied an autumn campaign to enact his top domestic priority.

In a fresh sign of urgency, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., announced that his Senate Finance Committee would meet in two weeks to begin drafting legislation, whether or not a handful of Democrats and Republicans have come to an agreement. The panel is the last of five to act in Congress, and while the outcome is uncertain, it is the only one where bipartisanship has been given a chance to flourish.

In the excerpts, Obama said there is widespread agreement on about 80 percent of what must be included in legislation. Any yet, he said, “instead of honest debate, we have seen scare tactics” and ideological warfare that offers no hope for compromise.

“Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action,” he said.

Obama said the legislation he seeks would guarantee insurance to consumers, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions, as well as other protections. “As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it most,” he added in the excerpts released in advance.

The president also assured those with insurance that “nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.”

Obama also said the legislation he seeks would help those who lack insurance to afford it. “These are not primarily people on welfare,” he said in a line in the excerpts that appeared aimed at easing concerns among working-class voters. “These are middle-class Americans.”

The president also said he wants legislation that “will slow the growth of health care costs for our families.”

Obama said a collective failure” to meet the challenge of overhauling health care for decades has “led us to a breaking point.”