In Weak Economy, Obama May Face Obstacles to Health Care Reform

JUDY WOODRUFF:

Finally, the health care agenda for a new president and Congress.

Throughout the campaign, Barack Obama laid out proposals for covering many of the 45 million people who are uninsured and for reducing costs.

Published reports say he has now selected a Capitol Hill veteran to lead that mission: former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle is expected to be named secretary of health and human services.

Here is some of what the president-elect spelled out about his health care priorities during the final presidential debate in October.

BARACK OBAMA, President-elect of the United States: As I travel around the country, this is the issue that will break your heart over and over again.

Just yesterday, I was in Toledo shaking some hands in the line. Two women, both of them probably in their mid- to late-50s, had just been laid off at their plant. Neither of them have health insurance.

And they were desperate for some way of getting coverage because, understandably, they're worried that, if they get sick, they could go bankrupt.

So here's what my plan does: If you have health insurance, then you don't have to do anything. If you've got health insurance through your employer, you can keep your health insurance, keep your choice of doctor, keep your plan.

The only thing we're going to try to do is lower costs so that those cost savings are passed on to you. And we estimate we can cut average families' premium by about $2,500 per year.

If you don't have health insurance, then what we're going to do is to provide you the option of buying into the same kind of federal pool that both Senator McCain and I enjoy as federal employees, which will give you high-quality care, choice of doctors at lower costs, because so many people are part of this insured group.

JUDY WOODRUFF:

The question now is, how ambitious a plan should President-elect Obama propose, given the financial crisis, a likely recession, and other priorities, like the Iraq and Afghanistan wars?

We get four views now. Karen Ignagni is the president and CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, a national trade association representing health insurance providers.

Stuart Butler, vice president for domestic and economic policy at the Heritage Foundation.

Chris Jennings, former senior health policy adviser to President Clinton, he's now president of Jennings Policy Strategies, a health policy consulting firm.

And Uwe Reinhardt, professor of economics and public affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.

Thank you all four for being here.