U.S. & World

WASHINGTON (CBS News) ― Speaking before a special joint session of Congress, President Obama laid out to legislators and the American people his goals for health care reform - goals that he says incorporate both Democratic and Republican ideas.

After a tedious summer in which the dialogue surrounding health care reform spun out of the president's control, Mr. Obama gave his address tonight in an attempt to clarify his priorities and set the legislative process back on track.

Health care reform, the president said, should meet three basic goals: more security and stability for those with health insurance, access to insurance for those who do not have it, and ways to slow the growth of health care costs.

• Video: President Obama Welcomed Into Congress
• Video: Obama Addresses Congress On Health Care Overhaul
• S.C. Rep. Yells 'You Lie!' During Obama Speech
• GOP Response To Obama: 'Time To Start Over'

"The time for bickering is over," Mr. Obama said. "Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care."

The president told the Congress he continues to seek common ground - but he issued a warning to opponents of his plan who have used lies and exaggerations to fight it.

"My door is always open," he said. "But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than improve it... If you misrepresent what's in the plan, we will call you out. And I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now."

Mr. Obama said Americans have grown nervous about reform because of misinformation. He alluded to claims from former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin that his plan would establish "death panels."

• Slideshow: Obama Makes Health Pitch To Congress
• Analysis: Fact-Checking Obama's Remarks
• Obama Voices Support For Public Option In Speech
• Poll: More Wary Of Obama On Health Care
• Health Care Town Halls Getting Ugly
• RNC Criticism Of Government-Run Health Care Plan 
• White House Touts Key Budget Points Of Health Reform

"The best example is the claim, made not just by radio and cable talk show hosts, but prominent politicians, that we plan to set up panels of bureaucrats with the power to kill off senior citizens," he said. "Such a charge would be laughable if it weren't so cynical and irresponsible. It is a lie, plain and simple."

The president also disputed claims that illegal immigrants would be covered under his plan, that federal dollars would be used to fund abortions, or that his plan amounts to a "government takeover" of health care.

His comments elicited a rowdy response from the Congress, with South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson shouting "You lie!" after Mr. Obama said no illegal immigrants would be covered.

Wilson later released a statement apologizing for his behavior.

The president also spurred some laughter from the Congress when he said, "While there remain some significant details to be ironed out, I believe a broad consensus exists" on many aspects of reform.

As for the most contentious issue, a government-sponsored health insurance plan, or "public option," the president said it "is only a means to that end - and we should remain open to other ideas that accomplish our ultimate goal" of ending insurance company abuses and making coverage affordable.

He insisted, though, that it would be an effective means of keeping the private market in check, "the same way public colleges and universities provide additional choice and competition to students without in any way inhibiting a vibrant system of private colleges and universities."

"It's worth noting that a strong majority of Americans still favor a public insurance option of the sort I've proposed tonight," Mr. Obama said. "But its impact shouldn't be exaggerated... It is only one part of my plan, and should not be used as a handy excuse for the usual Washington ideological battles."

He stressed that a public option would be optional - with less than 5 percent of Americans estimated to sign up - and would be on a level playing field with private companies.

CBS News' Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer said that Mr. Obama may have been signaling to Democrats that they should forgo the public option.

"He was saying to the liberals in his own party, 'Look, we're not going to get this public, government-run insurance program that you're insisting on, but there are a lot of things that we can get done, very significant things," Schieffer said. "He is saying, 'Don't miss the forest for the trees here.'"

Mr. Obama said alternatives such as nonprofit cooperatives are worth exploring.

"But I will not back down on the basic principle that if Americans can't find affordable coverage, we will provide you with a choice," he said. "And I will make sure that no government bureaucrat or insurance company bureaucrat gets between you and the care that you need."

The president noted that it has been nearly a century since the federal government first called for health care reform under former President Theodore Roosevelt.

"I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," he said.

Mr. Obama said that the stalled debate has brought the country to a breaking point, with soaring health care costs burdening many Americans with extraordinary financial hardship.

"These are not primarily people on welfare," he said. "These are middle-class Americans."

The president said his proposals would cost around $900 billion over 10 years - "less than we have spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and less than the tax cuts for the wealthiest few Americans that Congress passed at the beginning of the previous administration," he said.

The president repeated his common mantra that under his plan, no one who currently has health insurance will be required to change their coverage or their doctor.

"Let me repeat this: nothing in our plan requires you to change what you have," he said.

The plan, Mr. Obama said, will prohibit insurance companies from denying consumers coverage because of pre-existing conditions. It will also prohibit rescission, the practice of dropping customers' coverage after they get sick, along with caps on coverage. It will limit out-of-pocket expenses. Insurance companies would be required to cover routine checkups and preventive care.

"That makes sense, it saves money, and it saves lives," he said.

The president argued for the creation of a health insurance exchange to keep people insured, even if they lose their job or decide to start a business. He also advocated a mandate for all Americans to acquire insurance and tax credits for those who cannot afford coverage.

To prove he is serious about keeping his plan deficit neutral, the president called for a provision to require more spending cuts if the savings promised do not materialize.

"Part of the reason I faced a trillion dollar deficit when I walked in the door of the White House is because too many initiatives over the last decade were not paid for - from the Iraq War to tax breaks for the wealthy," the president said to great applause from Democrats and some Republicans. "I will not make that same mistake with health care."

Taking aim at Republicans who have railed against potential Medicare cuts, Mr. Obama addressed seniors directly.

"Don't pay attention to those scary stories about how your benefits will be cut - especially since some of the same folks who are spreading these tall tales have fought against Medicare in the past," he said, "and just this year supported a budget that would have essentially turned Medicare into a privatized voucher program. That will never happen on my watch. I will protect Medicare."

He said however, that reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid would pay for most of this plan, with the remainder of the costs covered by fees on drug and insurance companies.

In the Republican response to President Obama's address, Rep. Charles Boustany criticized the president's plan to pare down Medicare costs.

"It cuts Medicare by $500 billion, while doing virtually nothing to make the program better for our seniors," he said.

Mr. Obama also acknowledged Republican support for medical malpractice reform. He said he is directing the Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on a Bush administration initiative to test the issue.

"I don't believe malpractice reform is a silver bullet, but I have talked to enough doctors to know that defensive medicine may be contributing to unnecessary costs," he said.

To cap off his nearly 5,500-word speech, the president evoked the spirit of health care reform champion Sen. Ted Kennedy. He said the senator sent him a letter that the president was instructed to open after Kennedy's death.

"He expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform - 'that great unfinished business of our society,' he called it - would finally pass," Mr. Obama revealed. "'What we face,' he wrote, 'is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.'"


TEXT OF LETTER FROM SEN. EDWARD M. KENNEDY PRESIDENT OBAMA REFERENCED IN SPEECH:

May 12, 2009

Dear Mr. President,

I wanted to write a few final words to you to express my gratitude for your repeated personal kindnesses to me – and one last time, to salute your leadership in giving our country back its future and its truth.

On a personal level, you and Michelle reached out to Vicki, to our family and me in so many different ways. You helped to make these difficult months a happy time in my life.

You also made it a time of hope for me and for our country.

When I thought of all the years, all the battles, and all the memories of my long public life, I felt confident in these closing days that while I will not be there when it happens, you will be the President who at long last signs into law the health care reform that is the great unfinished business of our society. For me, this cause stretched across decades; it has been disappointed, but never finally defeated. It was the cause of my life. And in the past year, the prospect of victory sustained me-and the work of achieving it summoned my energy and determination.

There will be struggles – there always have been – and they are already underway again. But as we moved forward in these months, I learned that you will not yield to calls to retreat - that you will stay with the cause until it is won. I saw your conviction that the time is now and witnessed your unwavering commitment and understanding that health care is a decisive issue for our future prosperity. But you have also reminded all of us that it concerns more than material things; that what we face is above all a moral issue; that at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country.

And so because of your vision and resolve, I came to believe that soon, very soon, affordable health coverage will be available to all, in an America where the state of a family's health will never again depend on the amount of a family's wealth. And while I will not see the victory, I was able to look forward and know that we will – yes, we will – fulfill the promise of health care in America as a right and not a privilege.

In closing, let me say again how proud I was to be part of your campaign- and proud as well to play a part in the early months of a new era of high purpose and achievement. I entered public life with a young President who inspired a generation and the world. It gives me great hope that as I leave, another young President inspires another generation and once more on America's behalf inspires the entire world.

So, I wrote this to thank you one last time as a friend- and to stand with you one last time for change and the America we can become.

At the Denver Convention where you were nominated, I said the dream lives on.

And I finished this letter with unshakable faith that the dream will be fulfilled for this generation, and preserved and enlarged for generations to come.


With deep respect and abiding affection,
[Ted]

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

• Go! New York For A Healthy Lifestyle
• Got Wit? Play CBS 2's Caption Game!
• 20 Questions
• Celebrities On Twitter
• Celebrity Real Names Revealed
• When It Was Out To Be Out
• Hilarious Movie Blunders
• World's Coolest Fighter Jets