Health Insurance Reform: Obama Speaks on Congressional Support

At several fundraising events this week, President Barack Obama has urged fellow Democrats to pressure their congresspersons to support health insurance reform and criticized opposition, whom he claimed were hoping reform would fail. The House of Representatives and the Senate have both passed reform bills, although their versions differ. Committees now have to hammer out a compromise between two options: the more sweeping changes recommended by the House, and the more cautious version passed by the Senate. Obama has expressed his support of a public option in the past, which is more likely to happen under the House’s bill.

Virtually all of the Democrats in Congress have voted for health care reform, but so far only one Republican (Maine Senator Olympia Snowe) has joined them in voting yes. The Democratic National Committee has asked supporters to make 100,000 calls to Congress in an attempt to seek more Republican votes. However, the prospect seems unlikely. Regardless, the Democrats currently have enough votes in both chambers of Congress to pass a bill. The future of health insurance may be decided several weeks from now, when a final bill is expected to be presented.