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 We're All In This Together - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 5/11/09 — Monday, May 11, 2009 —  MR. GIBBS: Jake.Q I'm wondering if the White House is at all concerned that you're not preparing the American people sufficiently for the fact that they, along with everyone else, will have to give something up for health care reform to happen. The President has talked a lot about everyone is going to have to give something up. But I'm wondering -- I mean, if you look at the Dartmouth study that Mr. Orszag talks about all the time or you look at some of the cost-cutting measures that are being discussed, there are some things that patients will have to give up. And I just -- I don't hear anybody in the administration -- and I know you're not drafting the legislation -- but I don't hear anybody in the administration talking about that at all. MR. GIBBS: Well, I mean, I think you prefaced your question by the President discussing overall the notion that we're all in this together and in order to reform the system each of us is probably going to have to give. I think what the President would tell you in response to this question, Jake, is right now what they're paying for and what their outcome is, is as outsized here as in any country in the world; that we can make reforms that will cut the cost that they -- the families and small businesses -- bear each day with a series of outcomes that is even greater than what we're experiencing now. Whether that's dealing on the front end with wellness and health prevention is something that certainly may be moderate on the front end, but has huge impacts and effects, particularly in the amount of money that you're spending on health care in the out years. So, look, I think this is a -- this will be a long process. But I think the President believes that today was an important step in seeing health care reform come to fruition this year. I think many of the actors that were involved in previous health care reform debates on the opposite side are now -- have what the President talked about, a seat at the table, and are actively involved in looking for a solution that will cut costs for the American people. Q Just a follow-up to that. Is there any talk of these cost-saving proposals that the industry is talking about, making them mandatory instead of just voluntary? MR. GIBBS: Well, the President in meeting with the group this morning -- before they went out, he said to this group, you've made a commitment; we expect you to keep it. And I think there's a pretty good conceptualization of the baseline for health care spending. And I know on some of the calls over the weekend -- this isn't something that CBO will score. But you guys all do stories, and we certainly watch the amount of health care inflation each year. And I think people believe that there's a sufficient ability to track whether or not these reforms are being taken. We certainly believe that the players that are involved and the trade associations that they represent are genuinely serious about moving health care reform forward. But we will be certainly evaluating throughout this process how effective they're being, how effective the government is being at curtailing costs for Medicare and Medicaid in hopes of making sure that that savings is realized by American families. Health Care | Obama Administration | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | White House Press Corps Labels: Health Care, Obama Administration, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:48:00 PM
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