Barack Obama's top health official made a tough moral case to insurance giants Wednesday: put people and patriotism before profits and drop opposition to the president's overhaul plans.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius braved an industry conference two days after Obama issued a stinging attack on health insurance firms, accusing them of dumping ailing customers to hike profits.
She insisted she had not come to "vilify" the industry that has sunk previous reform efforts and which Obama has been painting as guilty of unreasonably raising premiums in pursuit of bigger profits.
But her intervention marked another escalation in the White House's attempt to finally drive the health care reform plan to a successful conclusion, with Obama's political authority and hopes for a reforming legacy on the line.
Sebelius told delegates that they could continue their opposition, and by next year, premiums would rise further and more small businesses would be forced to close or cancel health coverage for employees.
Alternatively, the health insurance industry could stop spending money on opposing reforms and agree compromises with the Obama administration, she said.
"The second choice really may give up some short-term profits, but we also, working together, could create a sustainable health insurance market where Americans will still be able to buy coverage.
"It's better for the American people. I think it's better for the insurance industry. And it's certainly better for our health-care system."
The remarks by Sebelius were less sharp in tone than advance excerpts of her speech earlier released to the White House, which generated a flurry of headlines on blogs and newspaper websites ahead of her comments.
Halting abuses by health insurance companies forms a key part of Obama's plans, also designed to cut costs, and widen access to America's mostly private health system to 30 million Americans without care.
The White House is pressuring Congress to act on Obama's revamped health insurance plan by March 18, when the president leaves on a trip to Indonesia and Australia.
Senior Democrats appeared to balk at that timetable on Tuesday. But Steny Hoyer, the number two Democrat in the House of Representatives, appeared to moderate his opposition, telling NBC Wednesday that it was his "objective" to meet that deadline.
In a bid to evade Republican blocking tactics, Obama wants the House to ditch legislation it approved in November and pass the Senate's version of health care reform coupled with "fixes" to that bill.
But the approach is high-risk as some conservative Democrats oppose it and others have a wary eye on the polls, with a third of senators and all of the House of Representatives up for re-election in November's mid-term elections.
Copyright 2010 AFP American Edition
