The White House Health Care Summit is underway, and everyone who's anyone is there. At least according to Ezra Klein's
source: "Yesterday, I asked a prominent health care operative about the
Summit.
'What I've heard in my world,' he said, 'is everyone wants to
be there
and needs to be there and thinks it'll be terrible if they're not
there.'" That means that the Catholic Health Association, representing
Catholic hospitals that refuse to provide comprehensive reproductive
health care services, is at the table, as is Planned Parenthood's
Cecile Richards. In his opening remarks, President Obama made it clear
that "every option should be on the table," but also cautioned
attendees, "Each of us must accept that none of us will get everything
we want."
Obama placed the mandate for health care reform squarely at the feet of
the crumbling economy. Calling the exploding costs, for individuals,
businesses and the government, the "biggest threat to our balance
sheet," Obama said health care costs threaten the "very foundation of
our economy."
Cecile Richards of Planned Parenthood speaks at the White House Health Summit.
He reiterated frightening statistics he cited in the
Address to Congress: premiums have grown four times faster than wages.
An American goes bankrupt because of medical debt every 30 seconds.
And he pointed out that even people with good health insurance are
vulnerable -- a "stroke of bad luck," a job loss or a divorce, could
easily put them at risk for losing insurance.
When Cecile Richards spoke, she pointed out that the only contact many
low-income women Planned Parenthood serves have with health care
providers is through family planning clinics.
