|
For more information, contact: Germonique Jones 202-494-9876
John V. Moore 708-205-2036
Hugh Espey 515-282-0484
For Immediate Release: Saturday, December 1, 2007
Fields Tough Questions on Private Health Insurance
Minutes ago, at the Heartland Presidential Forum: Community Values in Action, in Des Moines, Iowa, Senator Barack Obama told thousands of Iowa caucus goers and grassroots leaders that “this idea of Community Values is not just the cause of my campaign, it is the cause of my life.” Obama said, “We have responsibilities not just to ourselves, but to each other.” And he said that the current Administration had pursued a “go it alone” approach to politics.
Obama heard the stories of people from Springfield, MA and Des Moines, IA who had lost health care, including the mother of a child who would have lost her eyesight if not for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Obama said, “Government has a role to play in making sure the American people can live out their dreams. They don’t believe that government can solve all their problems, but they believe that government can break down the barriers to success.” He pledged that everyone would have health insurance as good as the insurance that members of Congress have “by the end of my first Administration.”
Rev. Katrina Foster of the Bronx, New York, questioned Obama’s support for a mix of private and public insurance, expressing the belief that governmental programs are superior. Saying “I know something about pre-existing conditions,” Obama told the story of his mother, who died at age 53 of ovarian cancer. Obama said that insuring people as quickly as possible would require expanding public programs, but also incorporating aspects of the private market.
###
|
