President Barack Obama says the nation can use healthcare IT to dig itself out of the ever-increasing burden of escalating healthcare costs.
In his fourth prime time TV press conference Wednesday night, Obama said he would like to see a bill pushed through as early as this summer, but he won’t sign a bill that puts the majority of the burden on the backs of the middle class.
As Capitol Hill debates the merits of proposed healthcare reforms, the president has been lobbying for change, making almost daily speeches to educate the American public on what his reform plan would hold.
Obama and the Democrats have said two-thirds of the cost of the proposed healthcare overhaul would come from eliminating wasteful or fraudulent spending of taxpayer dollars. The remaining third is up for debate, with Obama recommending limiting tax deductions for the wealthiest Americans to match deductions available to middle class Americans. He said he is not sure if Congress will follow his advice, and the House is currently considering taxing Americans who jointly earn more than $1 million a year.
Obama’s speech and his answers to questions about healthcare reform emphasized that change must come, and it will involve the use of healthcare IT to eliminate duplicate testing, prevent medical errors, help monitor chronic care, encourage preventive care and help doctors know what care is most effective. Without these changes, he said, the nation will maintain a status quo that will bankrupt more families.
“Currently, 14 million Americans lose their health insurance every day,” Obama said. “This is about Americans who don’t have healthcare, and this is about every American who has ever worried about losing healthcare.” Read More EMR