The Senate passes the Health Reform bill. This is a historic step towards health insurance reform.

In a historic vote that took place this morning, members of the Senate joined their the House of Representatives and passed a landmark (historic) health insurance reform package (bill). Now that both the House and the Senate have passed the Health Insurance Reform Bill what’s next?

The President believes that real and meaningful health insurance is soon to come for all Americans. The health insurance reform package will bring more security and stability to the American people.

What’s in the Health Insurance Reform Bill?

• Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny you coverage on the basis of a pre-existing condition.
• Insurance companies will no longer be able to drop your coverage when you get sick.
• No longer will you have to pay unlimited amounts our of your own pocket for the treatments you need.
• There’s a new way to appeal unfair decisions made by your insurance carrier.

Important Point of the Health Insurance Reform Bill

• If this legislation becomes law, workers won’t have to worry about losing coverage if they lose or change jobs.
• Families will save on their premiums.
• The Health Insurance Reform Bill will strengthen Medicare.
• The Health Insurance Reform Bill will make insurance affordable for over 30 million Americans who didn’t have insurance.
• If this legislation becomes law, it will be the most important piece of social policy since the Social Security Act in the 30′s.

President Obama on Senate Passage of Health Reform

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This is the weekly address by President Obama. Here’s what been said, “Every moth since January, when I become your president, I’ve spoken to you about the periodic reports of the Labor Department on the number of jobs created or lost during the previsou month, numbers that tell a story about how America’s economy is faring overall.

In those first months, the numbers were nothing short ofdevastating. The worst recession since the 1930′s had wrecked havoc on the lives of so many of our fellow Americans.

Pushing Forward on Jobs

In December, the numbers released by the Labor Department reflected a continuing positive trend of diminishing job loss. But for those who were laid off last month and the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession, a good trend isn’t good enough. Trends don’t buy groceries. Trends don’t pay the rent or a college tuition. Trends don’t fulfill the needs within each of us to be productive, to provide for our families, to make the most of our lives, to reach for our dreams.

So, it’s true that we, as a country, are in a very different place than we were when 2009 began. Because of the Recovery Act and a number of other steps we’ve taken, we’re no longer facing the potential collapse of our financial system or a second Great Depression. We’re no longer losing jobs at a rate of 700,000 a month. And our economy’s growing for the first time in a year.

But too many of our neighbors are still out of work because the growth we’ve seen hasn’t yet translated into all the jobs we need. Stung by this brutal recession, businesses that have kept their doors open are still wary about adding workers. Instead of hiring, many are simply asking their employees to work more hours, or they’re adding temporary help.

History tells us this is usually what happens with recessions — even as the economy grows, it takes time for jobs to follow. But the folks who have been looking for work without any luck for months and, in some cases, years, can’t wait any longer. For them, I am determined to do everything I can to accelerate our progress so we’re actually adding jobs again.

That’s why, President Obama has invited a group of business owners from all across the country to the White House to talk about additional steps we can take to help jumpstart hiring. We brought together unions and universities to talk about what we can do to support our workers today and prepare our students to outcompete workers around the world tomorrow.

We brought together mayors and community leaders to talk about how we can open up new opportunities in our cities and towns.

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President Obama has been using Google (Youtube) to host more than 100 business executives, entrepreneurs, labor unions, and economists. This effort is all to help reduce the job lost in America.

Finding ways to reduce the U.S. unemployment rates won’t be easy. The current unemployment rate stands at 10 percent. This number represent over 16 million people unemployed in America.

Obama Hosts Jobs Summit

Google Weights — Reducing the Job Lost With Green Jobs

Google’s CEO said, up to 1 million green jobs could be created by using tax credits and government incentives.

What Others Are Saying About Obama’s Job Summit

Read more from Obama’s Jobs Summit is an Exercise in Futility

Read More From Obama’s White House Job Summit Provides Glimpse of Illinois Economic Future

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The Obama Health Insurance Plan – Here are the details that every American needs to know about the Health Insurance Plan. First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition. as soon as the president signs the Health Care Reform 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 the most. Insurance companies will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime.

The Health Care Reform Act will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies — because there is no reason we shouldn’t be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse.

If you lose your job or you change your job, you’ll be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you’ll be able to get coverage. Under the Health Care Reform Act a new health exchange will be created — a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices. For those individuals and small businesses who still can’t afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we’ll provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need. for those Americans who can’t get insurance today because they have pre-existing medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill.

This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it’s a good idea now, and we should all embrace it. But an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. It would only be an option for those who don’t have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it and would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better. The President will not sign a Health Care Reform bill that adds one dime to America’s deficits — either now or in the future.

The President and his administration have estimated that most of the Health Care Reform Act can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system, a system that is currently full of waste and abuse. The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies. The President will be creating a new “Independent Commission” of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead.

These steps will ensure that the American people and America’s seniors get the benefits you’ve been promised. and we can use some of the saving to fill the gap in coverage that forces too many senior to pay thousands of dollars a year out of their own pockets for prescription drugs.

Many Republicans have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care. The Bush Administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these ideas. President Obama thinks that’s a good idea, and is directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative.

The Obama Health Care Reform Act in 4 Minutes

If You Have Health Insurance

• If you like your insurance, you can keep it
• No more denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions
• No dropped coverage when you get sick
• Eliminates yearly and lifetime caps on coverage
• Caps out-of-pocket expenses
• Required coverage for preventive care

If You Don’t Have Health Insurance

• A new insurance marketplace, the Exchange
• New tax credits for individuals and small business
• Low-cost coverage for individuals and small businesses
• A public health insurance option

Paying For the Health Care Reform Act

• No money will be added to the deficit
• The Health Care Reform Act will be paid for upfront
• Independent medical experts to identify waste, fraud, and abuse
• Eliminates the prescription drug “Donut Hole”
• Immediate medical malpractice reform projects

The time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed. Now is the season for action. now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on Health Care.

(President Obama)

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President Obama Weekly Address Transcript:

Leaders of the world’s largest economies will gather next week in Pittsburgh for the second time this year. The first meeting of the G20 nations in April came at the height of the global financial crisis — a crisis that required unprecedented international cooperation to jumpstart the world’s economies and help break the downward spiral that enveloped all our nations.

At next week’s summit, we’ll have, in effect, a five-month checkup to review the steps each nation has taken — separately and together, to break the back of this economic crisis. And the good news is that we’ve made real progress since the last time we met — here at home and around the world.

In February, we enacted a Recovery Act, providing relief to Americans who need it, preventing layoffs, and putting Americans back to work. We’ve worked to unlock frozen credit markets, spurring lending to Americans looking to buy homes or cars, take out student loans, or finance small businesses. And we’ve challenged other nations to join us not only to spur global demand, but to address the underlying problems that caused such a deep global recession in the first place.

Because of the steps taken by our nations and all nations, we can now say that we’ve stopped our economic freefall. But we also know that stopping the bleeding isn’t nearly enough. Our work is far from over. We know we still have a lot to do here at home to build an economy that is producing good jobs for all those who are looking for work today. And we know we still have a lot to do, in conjunction with the nations around the world, to strengthen the rules governing financial markets and ensure that we never again find ourselves in the precarious situation we found ourselves in just one year ago.

As I told leaders of our financial community in New York City earlier this week, a return to normalcy can’t breed complacency. To protect our economy and people from another market meltdown, our government needs to fundamentally reform the rules governing financial firms and markets to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We can’t allow the thirst for reckless schemes that produce quick profits and fat executive bonuses to override the security of our entire financial system and leave taxpayers on the hook for cleaning up the mess. And as the world’s largest economy, we must lead, not just by work, but by example, understanding that in the 21st century, financial crises know no borders. All of us need to act more responsibly on behalf of a better economic future.

That’s why, at next week’s G20 summit, we’ll discuss some of the steps that are required to safeguard our global financial system and close gaps in regulation around the world, gaps that permitted the kinds of reckless risk-taking and irresponsibility that led to the crisis. And that’s why I’ve called on Congress to put in place a series of tough, common-sense rules of the road that will protect consumers from abuse, let markets function fairly and freely, and help prevent a crisis like this from ever happening again.

Central to these reforms is a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency. Part of what led to this crisis were not just decisions made on Wall Street, but also unsustainable mortgage loans made across the country. While many folks took on more than they knew they could afford, too often folks singed contract they didn’t fully understand offered by lenders who didn’t always tell the truth. That’s why we need clear rules, clearly enforced. and that’ what this agency (Consumer Financial Protection) will do.

Consumers shouldn’t have to worry about loan contracts written to confuse, hidden fees attached to their mortgages, and financial penalties — whether through a credit card or debit card, that appear without a clear warning on their statements. And responsible lenders, including community banks, trying to do the right thing shouldn’t have to worry about ruinous competition from unregulated and unscrupulous competitors. Not surprisingly, lobbyists for big Wall Street banks are hard at work trying to stop reforms that would hold them accountable and they want to keep things just the way they are. But we can’t let politics as usual triumph so business as usual can reign. We can’t let the narrow interests of a few come before the interests of all of us. We can’t forget how close we came to the brink, and perpetuate the broken system and breakdown of responsibility that made it possible.

In the weeks and moths ahead, we have an opportunity to build on the work we’ve already done. an opportunity to rebuild our global economy stronger than before. An opportunity not only to protect the American people and America’s economy, bu to promote sustained and balanced growth and prosperity for our nation and all nations. And that’s an opportunity I am determined to seize.

The President’s Weekly Address: Progress in the Global Economy

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Transcript of the President’s weekly address September 11, 2009 on
Losing Insurance (It can happen to Anybody)

Weekly Address September 11, 2009
Losing Insurance can Happen to Anybody

On Wednesday, I addressed a joint session of Congress and the American people about why we need health insurance reform and what it will take to do it. Since then, I’ve continued to hear from many Americans across the country about why this is so urgent and important. I’ve head from Americans who can’t get health coverage; men and women who worry that one accident or illness could drive them into bankruptcy. And I’ve head from Americans with insurance who thought that “the uninsured” always referred to someone else — but between skyrocketing costs and insurance company practices; they are beginning to worry that they could find themselves uninsured too.

It’s an anxiety that’s keeping more and more Americans awake at night. Over the last twelve months nearly six million more Americans lost their health coverage — that’s 17,000 men and women every single day. We’re not just talking about Americans in poverty, either — we’re talking about middle-class Americans. In other words, it can happen to anyone. And based on a brand-new report from the Treasury Department, we can expect that about half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years. If you’re under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you’ll find yourself uninsured at some point in that time. And more than 1/3 of Americans will go without coverage for longer than one year.

I refuse to allow that future to happen. in the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they’ll go without health insurance — not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law — they won’t. My plan will provide more security and stability to those who have health insurance; offer quality, affordable choices to those who currently don’t; and bring health care costs for our families, our businesses, and our government under control.

First of all, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have insurance through your job, or medicare, or Medicaid, or the VA, nothing in my plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have. What my plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. We’ll make it illegal for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a pre-existing condition, or drop your coverage when you get sick, or water it down when you need it the most. They’ll no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or over a lifetime, and we will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses — because no one should go broke just because they get sick.

Second, if you’re one of the more than thirty million Americans who can’t get coverage, you’ll finally have quality, affordable choices. If you lose your job, change your job, or start your own business, you will be able to get coverage. And as I’ve said over and over again, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits — period. This plan will paid for. The middle-class will realize greater security, not higher taxes.

And if we can successfully slow the growth of health care costs by just 1/10 of 1% each year, it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term. Affordable, quality care within reach for tens of millions of Americans who don’t have it today. Stability and security for the hundred of millions who do. That’s the reform we seek.

We have had a long and important debate, but now is the time for action. Because every day we wait, ore Americans will lose their health care, their businesses, and their homes — but also the dreams they’ve worked for and the peace of mind they deserve. They are why we have to succeed. So if you’re willing to put country before party and the interests of our children above our own; if you refuse to settle for a politics where scoring points is more important than solving problems; and if you believe, as I do, that American can still come together to do great things — then join us. Give us your help. And we will finally get health insurance reform done this year.

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Meet some of the White House interns in the Internship Program. Internship work can be rewarding and offers a unique opportunity in leadership.

Meet The White House Interns

• Intern Marisa from Beltsville, MD
• Intern Steven from Livonia, MI
• Intern Jeremiah from Alexander City, AL
• Intern Patrick from New Canaan, CT
• Intern Daniel from New York, NY
• Intern Laura from Los Angeles, CA

White House Interns

Marisa – I’m interning in the First Lady’s office. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated when I first met the other interns because everybody’s incredible; everybody’s been something remarkable. Apply to the internship program — go for it.

Steven – I’m interning in the White House Travel office. Our travel manager is our director, our hotel manager — And whatever task they need help with, they have a lot of work to do and I’m there to support them in any way possible. this is a very intense program. it’s a lot of work, but it’s — the rewards are endless.

Jeremiah – I’m interning in the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. we actually work with Mayors and governors across the country. I think that it’s an incredible experience that no one should pass up.

Patrick – I’m interning in the Obama White House. I’ve been interest in public service for a long time. When i was in college I studied international relations and I thought that I wanted to go into journalism, actually. when then, candidate Barack Obama ran for President, it really turned me on to politics in a way that I hadn’t really thought about before. This led me directly to applying to the internship program. There’s a lot of energy in this White House and you’re surrounded by people who are bright, who care about what they’re doing. The White House is looking for the next class of interns right now in my office and I think what they’re looking for are people who work really hard, who are dedicated to public service, and have something very specific that they can bring to the office.

Daniel – I’m interning in the office of Political Affairs. At my University, I helped bring together students to address issues in the surrounding community. it was really the first week, for me, that was just unbelievable because each day was just something new and unexpected and — getting to see Marine One land, being on the South Lawn of the White House.

Laura – Every day is filled with different opportunities to do different things that, i think, many of us never thought we would be able to take part of. so the interns in the the program are incredibly talented. Everyone comes from a different region of the country.

To apply or get more information on the Internship Program at the White House.

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President Obama today, August 25th 2009 re-appointed Ben Bernanke to service a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. President Obama said “Ben Bernanke has led the Fed through one of the worst financial crises that this nation and the world has ever faced”.

Has the actions that Ben Bernanke have taken stabilized our economy? President Obama believes Ben Bernanke actions as Chairman of the Federal Reserve has stabilized our financial system, and repair our credit markets. The recovery plan has put tax cuts in people’s pockets, extended health care, unemployment insurance to those that are out of work.

Ben Bernanke Re-Appointed To A Second Term

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This is “President Obama Weekly Address Aug 22 2009″

Each and every day in this country, Americans are grappling with health care premiums that are growing three times the rate of wages and insurance company policies that limit coverage and raise out-of-pocket costs. Thousands are losing their insurance coverage each day. Without real reform, the burdens on America’s families and businesses will continue to multiply.

We’ve had a vigorous debate about health insurance reform, and rightly so. This is an issue of vital concern to every American, and I’m glad that so many are engaged. But it also should be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions, spread by the very folks who would benefit the most by keeping things exactly as they are.

So today, I want to spend a few minutes debunking some of the more outrageous myths circulating on the Internet, on cable TV, and repeated at some town halls across this country.

Debunking Health Care Reform – Health Care America 101

1. Health Care America – Let’s start with the false claim that illegal immigrants will get health insurance under reform. That’s not true. Illegal immigrants would not be covered. That idea has never even been on the table.
2. Health Care America – Some are also saying that coverage for abortions would be mandated under reform. Also false. when it comes to the current ban on using tax dollars for abortions, nothing will change under reform. And as every credible person who has looked into it has said, there are no so-called “death panels” — an offensive notion to me and the American people. These are phony claims meant to divide us.
3. Health Care America – We’ve all head the charge that reform will somehow bring about a government takeover of health care. I know that sounds scary to many folks. It sounds scary to me, too. But here’s the thing — it’s not true. I no sooner want government to get between you and your doctor than I want insurance companies to make arbitrary decisions about what medical care is best for you, as they do today. As I’ve said for the beginning, under the reform we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your private health insurance plan, you can keep your plan — PERIOD.
4. Health Care America – The source of a lot of these fears about government-run health care is confusion over what’s called the public option. This is one idea among many to provide more competition and choice, especially in the many places around the country where just one insurer thoroughly dominates the marketplace. this alternative would have to operate as any other insurer, on the bases of the premiums it collects. and let me repeat — it would just be an option; those who prefer their private insurers would be under no obligation to shift to a public plan. the insurance companies and their allies don’t like this idea, or any that would promote greater competition. I get that. And I expect there would be a lot of discussion about it when Congress returns. But this one aspect of the health care debate shouldn’t overshadow the other important steps we can and must take to reduce the increasing burdens families and businesses face.

Health Care Reform Overview

1. Health Care Reform – If you don’t have insurance, you will finally have access to quality coverageyou can afford.
2. Health Care Reform – If you do have coverage, you will benefit from more security and more stability when it comes to your insurance.
3. Health Care Reform – If you move, lose your job, or change jobs, you will not have to worry about losing health coverage.
4. Health Care Reform – Tougher consumer protections that will hold insurance companies accountable and stop them from exploiting you with unfair practices.
5. Health Care Reform – Prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of a person’s medical history.
6. Health Care Reform – Health care insurance companies will not be able to drop your coverage if you get sick.
7. Health Care Reform – Health care insurance companies will not be able to water down your coverage when you need it most.
8. Health Care Reform – Health care insurance companies will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or a lifetime. We’ll place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because no one in America should go broke because they get sick.
9. Health Care Reform – Require insurance companies to cover routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer on the front end. That makes sense, it saves lives, and it will also save money over the long-run.

Taken together, the reforms we’re seeking will help bring down skyrocketing costs, which will mean real savings for families, businesses, and government. We know what a failure to act would bring: More of the same. More of the same exploding costs. More of the same diminished coverage. If we fail to act, the crisis will grow. More families will go without coverage. More businesses will be forced to drop or water down their plans. So we can push off the day of reckoning and fail to deal with the flaws in the system, just as Washington had done, year after year, decade after decade. Or we can take steps that will provide every American family and business a measure of security and stability that they lack today.

It’s never been easy, moving this nation forward. There are always those who oppose it, and those who use fear to block change. But what has always distinguished America is that when all the arguments have been heard, and all the concerns have been voiced, and the time comes to do what must be done, we rise above our differences, grasp each others’ hands, and march forward as one nation and one people, some of us Democrats, some of us Republicans, all of us Americans. This is our chance to march forward. I can’t promise you that the reforms we seek will be perfect or make a difference overnight. But I can promise you this: If we pass health insurance reform, we will look back many years from now and say, this was the moment we summoned what’s best in each of us to make life better for all of us. This was the moment when we built a health care system worthy of the nation and the people we love. this was the moment we earned our place alongside the greatest generations. And that is what our generation of Americans is called to do right now.

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The Health Care Reform bill hits the delete button on the Public Option. What is the Public Option. The Public Option was a part of the Health Care Reform bill that worked like a medicare for everyone. If the Public Option had remained it would have gone head to head with private insurance companies. Just as the news that the Public Option was being deleted from the Health Care Reform bill hit the street, Wall Street answered. Health Care / Insurance stocks had a very good day. While the Dow lost 186 points today, companies like Pfizer Inc, Tenet, UnitedHealth Group Inc., Wyeth, and Aetna Inc. all seen gains today.

Sec. Kathleen Sebelius today said “The President believes it’s good to have choice”. The President is quoted “Whether we have public option or don’t have public option is not the entire Health Care Reform”.

In the past the President promised that Health Care Reform would include a Public Option. That a Public Option was essential to Health Care Reform. Guess not.

ObamaCare: The Collapse of Political Ambition (Public Option)

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