[ti:Health Reform Fight Heats Up in Washington] [ar:] [al:] [by:51VOA.COM] [00:00.00]This is IN THE NEWS [00:04.79]in VOA Special English. [00:07.85]This week, President Obama [00:11.28]continued to push for health reform [00:14.40]as debate over his plan intensified. [00:18.59]He still wants legislation [00:21.17]to sign into law [00:23.05]by the end of the year. [00:25.09]But he had to give up hope [00:27.63]for both houses of Congress [00:30.03]to pass bills [00:31.35]before their August break. [00:33.71]Health care [00:35.41]is one-sixth of the economy. [00:38.36]Yet an estimated forty-six million [00:41.86]Americans are uninsured. [00:44.75]The United States is the only major [00:48.31]industrial country that does not [00:51.31]guarantee health care for all. [00:54.51]The government provides coverage [00:57.30]only for old people and the poor. [01:00.71]Most insured workers [01:03.17]get their coverage [01:04.77]through their jobs. [01:06.61]But not all jobs offer insurance. [01:10.59]And policies can be costly [01:13.24]even when employers share the costs. [01:17.32]One proposal is [01:19.52]to offer the choice [01:21.07]of a government insurance plan [01:23.86]that would compete [01:25.35]with private insurers. [01:27.92]Another proposal is [01:30.03]to require employers [01:32.21]with more than twenty-five workers [01:35.31]to offer insurance or pay a penalty. [01:40.00]Also, insurance companies [01:42.80]could no longer deny coverage [01:45.79]to people who are already sick. [01:48.83]President Obama wants [01:51.29]to expand health coverage [01:53.74]to all Americans and, [01:56.38]at the same time, control costs. [01:59.58]This week he completed six months [02:02.61]in office. He held a nationally [02:05.64]broadcast news conference [02:07.54]Wednesday night that centered [02:09.81]on health care. [02:11.51]Why the hurry to pass a bill? [02:14.25]BARACK OBAMA: "If we do not [02:15.74]control these costs, [02:17.03]we will not be able [02:18.57]to control our deficit. [02:20.31]If we do not reform health care, [02:22.32]your premiums and out-of-pocket costs [02:24.85]will continue to skyrocket. [02:26.71]If we do not act, [02:28.21]fourteen thousand Americans will continue [02:30.30]to lose their health insurance [02:31.85]every single day." [02:33.87]But the president faces resistance [02:36.55]over the price of his plan, [02:39.40]which could cost a trillion dollars [02:42.05]over ten years. [02:44.07]Also, opponents say the government might [02:47.90]restrict people's health care. [02:50.55]The president says the goal [02:53.14]is for patients to get the best care, [02:56.75]not just the most expensive care. [02:59.90]And he says it can all be done [03:03.15]without adding to the federal budget deficit. [03:07.73]He says about two-thirds of the cost [03:11.44]can be paid for with money [03:14.39]that is currently being "wasted," he says, [03:17.95]in federal health care programs. [03:20.72]Congress will have to decide [03:23.62]how to finance the remaining costs. [03:27.11]But the president says he will not [03:30.20]let health reform be paid for [03:33.15]-- in his words -- [03:34.15]"on the backs of middle-class families." [03:38.13]Higher-earning families are another issue. [03:42.58]Proposals to raise their taxes [03:45.53]to help pay for the plan face objections, [03:49.97]and not just from the Republican minority [03:53.42]in Congress. [03:55.51]Critics include House Democrats newly elected [03:59.90]from wealthier communities. [04:02.59]And they include the Blue Dogs, [04:04.93]a fifteen-year-old coalition of moderate [04:08.46]and conservative Democrats [04:10.63]in the House of Representatives. [04:13.32]Opinion polls show that [04:15.03]the majority of Americans want health reform. [04:19.48]Forty-four percent [04:21.39]in a USA Today/Gallup Poll released this week [04:26.36]approved of Barack Obama's handling of the issue. [04:30.80]But fifty percent disapproved. [04:33.93]Also, forty-nine percent disapproved of [04:38.32]the president's handling of the economy. [04:41.55]That was compared to an approval rate of [04:44.80]fifty-five percent in May. [04:48.25]And that's IN THE NEWS [04:50.90]in VOA Special English, [04:53.74]written by Brianna Blake. [04:55.79]I'm Steve Ember.