Obama slams greedy health insurance companies | Midwest Voices

by Yael T. Abouhalkah

Revving up for next week's bipartisan health care summit, President Barack Obama slammed greedy health insurance companies on Saturday.

A California insurance firm is hiking rates by an average of 25 percent, he said, while one in Kansas is boosting rates by up to 20 percent.

Obama's right-on money quote in his Saturday weekly address:

"The bottom line is that the status quo is good for the insurance industry and bad for America. Over the past year, as families and small business owners have struggled to pay soaring health care costs, and as millions of Americans lost their coverage, the five largest insurers made record profits of over $12 billion."

As Obama correctly pointed out, it's time to reform health care in America, to try to drive down the rising costs of premiums. And this is not just for people with individual health care plans, but for those millions of people who get their health care through their private employers.

Obama said all the right things about getting the health care meeting pulled together in a bipartisan spirit, adding:

"I don’t want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points. Instead, I ask members of both parties to seek common ground in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations."

Well said by the president. Now we'll see if the Republicans are listening and come ready to be more than just the "Party of No" next week.

Yes, we'll also see whether Democrats (including Obama) come ready to accept some of the good ideas proposed by the GOP to get the best possible health care reform for the American people.

Obama and his comrades are pushing health care costs up, worsening our health care problems, and then using those problems to further demonize the insurance industry and force us to swallow the Obamacare scam!

Obama and his comrades are the most responsible because:

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