| In St. Charles, Obama offers plan to recoup $2 billion in Medicare, Medicaid waste |
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| By Dale Singer, Beacon staff | |
| Updated 5:00 pm Wed., 03.10.10 | |
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President Barack Obama said he can help pay for his health-care reforms, following the example of Harry S Truman, by finding waste and fraud in government spending.
Bill Greenblatt | UPI President Barack Obama removes his suit jacket as he speaks to supporters about health-care reform at St. Charles High School. Preaching to a loud friendly crowd of about 400 invited guests in a gym at St. Charles high school Wednesday, the president thanked them for the warm weather, doffed his coat, rolled up his sleeves and said improper spending on Medicare and Medicaid costs the government nearly $100 billion a year -- more than the Department of Education and the Small Business Administration combined. To find find and eliminate such costs, Obama said he had signed an order to launch private audits that should cut what government spends wrongly and redirect those dollars to more productive health-care spending. He said paying that kind of money is like spending to repair a house that is leaking energy and is inefficient in other ways -- it's an investment that pays off in the long run. "The same thing is true of your health-care system," he said. "We've got leaks everywhere and you're paying for it, directly or indirectly." And he denounced what he called scare tactics used by opponents of his plan. "By saving billions of dollars and reining in waste and inefficiency," Obama said, "we will be able to assure Medicare's solvency for an additional decade." Several times, the president said, "Here's the bottom line, St. Charles," as he ticked off the three basic features of his health care proposal:
On that last topic, Obama compared Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who stood beaming in the front row behind him, to Truman's World War II efforts to ferret out waste in military contracts. Saying that McCaskill "she just pinches those pennies," Obama noted that she had helped create an online database to keep track of government contracts. "We'll be able to see before any new contract is awarded: Does this company play by the rules." Insisting that Congress take an up-or-down vote on health care, the president said that the whole point of his plan is to make the U.S. system of medicine fairer and more rational. "I don’t believe we should give either the government or the insurance companies more control over health care in America," he said. "I want to give you more control over health care in America." And to those who say the time isn't right for health-care reform, that it's time to start over, Obama replied: "We can’t accept the status quo. We can’t accept the same old/same old. I won’t accept it. Claire McCaskill won’t accept it. Not when it comes to how we manage taxpayer dollars. Not when it comes to how our health-care system works. Not when it comes to meeting the difficult challenges that we face." Before the speech, small knots of people gathered outside the high school, including Mac Macintyre of St. Charles. He waved a "Don't Tread on Me" flag and wore a kilt that he said was from the Macintyre clan. He said that his family had come to the United States "to get away from the Brits and taxation for the crown." President's visit
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| Originally posted 11:21 am Wed., 03.10.10 |
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The Missouri Foundation for Health will present an informational meeting about new grants to reduce tobacco use, obesity and their related health problems.
A meeting in St. Louis will be held Aug. 6 at 9 a.m. at the Missouri Foundation for Health in the Grand Central Building at 1000 St. Louis Union Station, Suite 400.
A meeting in Potosi will be held Aug. 6 at 1 p.m. at the Washington County Library at 235 E. High St.
The meetings are free, but RSVPs are requested – contact Tamekka Cannon at 314-345-5577 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and specify which meeting you'll attend. For more information, visit www.mffh.org or call 314-345-5500 or 800-655-5560.
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