President Obama Speaks on Health Reform 

Yesterday's newspapers were full of political pundits’ comments and editorials discussing the president’s address Wednesday to a Joint Session of Congress. While a collective opinion about the speech’s effectiveness has yet to unfold, there do appear to be a few themes.

• First, the president did not give Democrats a clear prescription for dealing with the divisive public option issue. It’s true that he signaled he could sign a bill without a robust public plan, but he also devoted a significant amount of time to defending it.
• Second, by invoking the memory of Sen. Kennedy and talking about the importance of Social Security and Medicare in helping to reduce the number of seniors living in poverty, the president did what he does best, which is rallying his supporters to come together for a common cause; in this case, leveraging government to help those who need it most.
• Third, many have been quick to note that President Obama offered very limited solutions to reduce systemic costs or pay for reform, although he did indicate his desire to find savings in the existing health care system through Medicare Advantage cuts and taxing high-dollar health plans. 
• Fourth, he extended an olive branch to Republicans by offering to seriously explore medical malpractice reform, although he only firmly committed to limited demonstration projects through the Department of Health and Human Services.
• Finally, the president attempted to tackle some of the critics’ challenges head on, but many have noted that aside from subtle wording changes there were no new substantive arguments.

In sum, it appears that President Obama gave his best speech yet on the importance of health reform and may have succeeded in rallying Democrats, but he seems to have come up short on the policy platforms that Congress may need to move forward.

Also making news recently has been the reception the three most prominent health care reform bills in that Congress is considering. A summary of these bills can be viewed here.  Next week, the Senate Finance Committee will release its proposal and move ahead with a mark up on the legislation the following week, clearing way for health care reform to be debated on the Senate floor as soon as the end of this month.

RILA's Health and Employee Benefits Committee will meet on Monday, September 14, to formulate the retail industry's response to current potential legislation. RILA continues to be an active voice in this debate and we are committed to representing the retail industry’s effectively while protecting and promoting the great work our members have done to expand coverage and reduce costs for both employees and consumers.

For more information or to participate on the committee, please contact Sarah Arbes, vice president of government affairs, at sarah.arbes@rila.org.