POLICY PAPER

Policy Paper

Policy Paper

The paper summarizes the article named “Obama says economic recovery depends on healthcare”. The healthcare debate is reaching a critical juncture in the Democratic-controlled Congress. Obama wants both the House of Representatives and Senate to vote by early August but many lawmakers want more time to consider such an expansive set of proposals. (Holland & Alexander, 2009)

With the effort in danger of flagging and spilling into the autumn months where momentum could fade, Obama made his case for the overhaul and took on his critics. Several polls show Obama's job approval rating dropping and that Americans are having doubts about his prescriptions for the economy and healthcare. Obama said people were "understandably queasy" about government spending and the debt piling up, but argued the health of the economy depended on stemming healthcare costs, which account for 17.6 percent of gross domestic product. He is to make his case for the revamp on Thursday in Cleveland, Ohio, a manufacturing state where a recent Quinnipiac University poll said his job approval rating had dropped from 62 percent to 49 percent.

Obama promoted a key goal of the overhaul: creation of a government health insurance option, an idea deeply opposed by Republicans who feel it would unfairly compete with private insurers.

He said competition from the government insurance plan can prevent private insurers from passing on health costs to By Steve Holland and David Alexander. (Holland & Alexander, 2009)

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he realized Americans were skeptical about his healthcare overhaul, but that the country's economic recovery depended on implementing the $1 trillion plan.

Obama, insisting the "stars are aligned" for approval this year despite discord in Congress over the plan, warned inaction would undermine the economy, worsen the deficit and cripple millions of Americans financially.

The healthcare debate is reaching a critical ...