White House Views on Health Care

BY: MICHELLE AREAN, YEDICA LEAL, MARIANA GUERRERO

Wednesday Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary, spoke at a White House press briefing. Of the topics discussed, Universal Healthcare was a hot one.

Karl Rove’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal was brought up. It was said that Rove’s column pointed out the different policies that the President has proposed in order to help us reach his goals. Rove pointed out that if you add all of the proposals together, they don’t really add up to universal health care coverage.

This is contradicting, being that Senator Clinton has just offered a universal health care plan in Iowa.

It was then pointed out that the President, through the HHS Secretary, said he'd be willing to meet with Congress to try to reach this goal. Perino was then asked if it’s possible to achieve this without some sort of requirement for individual heath care coverage.
“Universal coverage -- that has a different connotation; that is what people think of in terms of government-run health care. That is not what this administration supports,” Perrino said. “What we do support is making sure that everyone has access to affordable health care.”

She also cleared up that what Rove had pointed out in his op-ed in the Wall Street Journal was simply the different policy proposals that the President has proposed.

Though Senator Hilarry Clinton’s health care plan was referenced to repeatedly, Perrino refused to comment on it.
“I'm not commenting on her plan. I'm not. Universal health care has been around for -- the concept has been around for a long time. I'm not commenting on Hillary Clinton's plan. It's a really nice try, but I'm not going to do it,” Perrino said.



President Bush's health care proposals:

• The President Has Proposed Replacing Our Current Health Insurance Tax System With A Standard Deduction For Health Insurance. For the millions of Americans who have no health insurance, the standard deduction would help put a basic private health insurance plan within reach. Under the President's proposal, families purchasing health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $15,000 of income. Single Americans purchasing health insurance will pay no income or payroll taxes on $7,500 of income.

• The President's Proposal Will Rein In Health Costs By Promoting High Value Coverage. By replacing the current unfair system with a standard deduction for health insurance, the President's proposal will give working families and individuals an incentive to purchase coverage – and the same tax advantages for purchasing that insurance – and encourage them to evaluate which health insurance policies represent the highest value for quality care



• The Affordable Choices Initiative Will Encourage States To Innovate. State participation will be voluntary, and States will design their own programs, subject to Federal approval.
  States could offer direct premium assistance to low-income or hard-to-insure populations to purchase private health insurance.
  States could establish high-risk pools, or expand existing high-risk pools, for very sick individuals who are deemed uninsurable in the non-group market.
  States could help facilitate pooling of individuals and small businesses and organize their access to private health plans.



• 
  For more of the president's proposals, visit www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/healthcare.
  

Link to White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino


Audio of White House Press Briefing by Dana Perino