Engel: "President Obama should seize this opportunity and lead us to a new beginning of health care"

[t0dd]

WASHINGTON - Congressman Eliot Engel reached out to top White House aides, telling them that President Obama should include a call for a robust public option in his speech on health care reform to Congress next Wednesday.

Rep. Engel, a senior member of the Health Care Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, placed calls to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the President, to tell them that the President needs to strongly push the public option.

Engel said, “For there to be effective reform to our broken health care system, there must be a robust public option. This is the best way, short of a single-payer system, to hold down costs and keep insurance companies in check. This would improve care for millions of Americans who now have health insurance, and provide care to the 47 million who have none.”

Rep. Engel noted that President Obama has said that a public option will keep the insurance companies honest and by creating competition, drive down costs of health care insurance.
“We can reform health care so that Americans will no longer fear getting ill because they have no insurance, or because they don’t have enough,” said Rep. Engel. “President Obama should seize this opportunity and lead us to a new beginning of health care in America.”

http://www.empirestatenews.net/News/20090907-2.html

I'm glad he made these calls and emphasized how momentous his speech could be. If Obama insists on the public option, and gets reform passed, it really will be the start of a new beginning. I cringe to think what we are in store for if the opposite occurs..

[Go2Peace]

1. I totally agree with this. Wednesday's speech would be the perfect opportunity

to reset the clock and go for something truly reformative. But Gibbs has already indicated that the President will not be changing his basic approach.