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This morning, Vice President Biden gave the commencement address at Wake Forest University, a slot originally scheduled for Tim Russert. The Vice President spoke at length about Russert, saying "Tim Russert enlivened and enriched our debate. He gave it meaning. He gave it substance. Along the way he made all of our lives richer." The Vice President was still wistful as he turned towards the world the graduates were inheriting:William Butler Yeats was right. Tim used to always kid me about quoting Irish poets. He thought I quoted them because I was Irish. That's not the reason. I quote Irish poets because they're the best poets. (Laughter.)There's a great line in one of Yeats' poems about the first rising in Ireland. It's called Easter Sunday, 1916. And the line is more applicable to your generation than it was to his Ireland in 1960. And he said: All changed, changed utterly. A terrible beauty has been born.When I graduated, all had not changed utterly yet. Today, it has. And in the last 12 to 15 years, a terrible beauty has been born. It's a different world out there than it has been any time in the last millennia. But we have an opportunity to make it beautiful, because it is in motion. We have an opportunity to change it. But absent our leadership, it will continue to careen down the path we're going now. And that could be terrible. That, folks, is an inflection point.
(Vice President Joe Biden processes into the Wake Forest Commencement Ceremony in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Monday, May 18, 2009. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) -
Posted by Christina M. Tchen, Director of the White House Office of Public EngagementWelcome to the Office of Public Engagement! Those of you who know Washington may have known about the Office of Public Liaison, which has been the office in the White House since the Nixon Administration that has connected the White House with public interest groups and constituencies based here in DC. Since the Inauguration, I have been the Director of the Office of Public Liaison, and our staff has had a busy hundred days reaching out to local and national groups across over four dozen different areas. But President Obama, as a community organizer himself, has always recognized the importance of engaging grass roots and grass tops, and wants this White House to be engaged in a two-way conversation with people across the country. As the President explained in the video announcing our "relaunch," we are renaming and repurposing ourselves as the Office of Public Engagement to reflect that mission – let me give you an example from an event just last week.As America celebrated National Women’s Health Week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and I hosted a round table discussion at Stitch DC, a local yarn store here in Washington. We were joined by 7 women small business owners who explained firsthand how skyrocketing costs are making it nearly impossible for small businesses to provide health care benefits for employees and their families.
(Photo credit: Chris Smith, Department of Health and Human Services)Marie Connolly, who owns Stitch, discussed how difficult it was to lose employees because she was not able to offer them health care coverage. As is the case with many small business owners, Ms. Connolly was forced to choose between not providing health care insurance for her employees in order to remain competitive, or providing such benefits and risk going out of business altogether. Marie has health insurance for baby Oona (who joined us at the meeting) and her other children through her husband’s plan. Nora Connolly, Marie’s sister and business partner, recently had a harrowing health scare where she was tested for a possibly serious condition, without any health insurance. Luckily, she was fine.Unfortunately, her situation is not unique for small business owners around the country. Angela Bradley, a small business owner from Maryland, related a similar story about being unable to provide health care to employees due to the high expense of doing so. Bradley also has lost workers to large businesses, such as Safeway, better positioned to provide health care insurance for its employees. We also heard from Leah Daniels, owner of a Washington DC cookware store, who shared that she has never worked in a job that offers health care, and currently cannot pay for health care for herself or any of her 4 employees.
(Photo credit: Chris Smith, Department of Health and Human Services)These are just three among numerous similar stories we heard around the table which demonstrate that small businesses are struggling from high health care costs. These stories show that the health care system in America needs to be reformed to ease the burden on small businesses, and to ensure that the workers in this country, and their families, receive the health care coverage they need.As Executive Director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, I was also interested in hearing about the effects skyrocketing health care costs have on these women and their families. It is well-documented that women are disproportionately adversely impacted by our broken health care system -– HHS just released a new report on this topic, and as always visit healthreform.gov for more information. President Obama and the White House Council on Women and Girls are committed to improving the health of all women and we know that health care reform is essential to achieving that goal.As President Obama has said, this office serves as the front door to the White House, and we will be engaging all of you in the work it will take to change this country. The meeting I had with women small business owners this week is one of many important conversations we’ll be holding. Please stay tuned for additional blogs from me and the rest of the Office of Public Engagement staff, as we will be listening to and sharing with you the stories that we are hearing around the country. -
This week the President discusses breakthroughs on two issues where stakeholders from all sides, who once opposed each other, are coming together for real reform. On health care and energy, solutions would provide key pillars for a new foundation for the country.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.
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Yesterday the Vice President and Dr. Jill Biden were in San Diego, California with U.S. Sailors and their families at Naval Base Coronado. They had lunch with Sailors onboard the USS Ronald Reagan, Dr. Biden discussed the trials of missing loved ones with military families, and the Vice President toured the base. The Vice President began his remarks with a story:Ladies and gentlemen, it's a great, great honor to be here on behalf of President Barack Obama and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen. I bring you their greetings.But I also have to tell you a little story. Admiral Mullen, as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral, is supposed to be even-handed in terms of all the military services -- and he is. But I got to tell you a story, and I asked his permission to tell the story. I can't tell you the event because it's classified, but I can tell you what happened.Not long ago we were down in the Situation Room with the President presiding -- and members of the Joint Chiefs, as well as the National Security Advisor, Secretary of State, myself, the Secretary of Defense. And there was a particular mission that was incredibly risky and required an immense -- immense amount of skill to pull off. And several of my uniformed brethren who weren't wearing Navy colors sat there and said, I think that's almost impossible. I'm not sure that can be done.And this is a true story, Admiral. Without missing a beat, spontaneously, not his prejudice but his pride showed through, and he said, gentlemen, they're Navy SEALS. That was it. It could be done, no matter what it was, with regard to the Navy. And you've all proven him to be right.
(Vice President Joe Biden speaks to 1,500 Sailors in front of the USS Ronald Reagan on Coronado Island, California, Thursday, May 14, 2009. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
(Vice President Joe Biden shakes hands with sailors in front of the USS Ronald Reagan on Coronado Island, California, Thursday, May 14, 2009. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
(Vice President Joe Biden speaks to SEAL trainees at the Special Warfare Training Center at Coronado Naval Base, California, Thursday, May 14, 2009. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann) -
Another update from Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, in the spirit of transparency:Today, the President and Vice President released their 2008 financial disclosure reports. The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires high-level Federal officials to disclose publicly their personal financial interests. This is intended to ensure confidence in the integrity of the Federal government by demonstrating that officials are able to carry out their duties free of conflicts of interest. The public filing system serves to prevent such conflicts by providing for a systematic review of the financial interests of government officials. Neither the President nor the Vice President have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been so certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics.Most of the information on the President’s form was previously available on his Senate termination report, which was filed on March 17, 2009.Note that the President’s form does not contain a Schedule B while the Vice President’s does. The President previously disclosed the information contained on Schedule B on his Senate termination report, and so a new schedule B is not required. The Vice President was not required to file a Senate termination report - he resigned his Senate position less than 30 days before assuming his current office, and no termination report is required under those circumstances. He is thus providing the Schedule B information at this time.These reports have traditionally been available in hard copy upon request, but in the interests of transparency and openness we are posting them online here:
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Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.download .mp4 (519.7 MB) | read the transcriptChris Lardner and her husband Scott own a small family business. Together they have three children, two daughters in college at Regis University in Denver , and a son in 7th grade. As a result of the economic downturn they resorted to paying for some of their daughters’ education with a credit card. As she approached the card limit, Lardner contacted the college to change the card on file, but the school charged another payment to the original card, which then put her above the limit. As a result the credit card company more than tripled her rate to nearly 30 percent.So it was only appropriate that Chris introduced the President at his town hall in Rio Rancho, New Mexico this morning, where he emphasized his commitment to signing the Credit Card Bill of Rights into law by Memorial Day. He talked about the letter Chris wrote him last week:She said: "If we conducted business this way, we'd have no business," she wrote. "And if this is happening to us, I can only imagine what's going on in homes less fortunate than ours."You all know what Chris is talking about. I know. I remember. It hasn't been that long since I had my credit card, sometimes working that a little bit. (Laughter.) We're lured in by ads and mailings that hook us with the promise of low rates while keeping the right to raise those rates at any time for any reason -- even on old purchases; even when you make a late payment on a different card. Right now credit card companies charge more than $15 billion a year in penalty fees. One in five Americans carry a balance that has been charged interest rates above 20 percent. Sometimes they even raise rates on outstanding balances even when you've paid your bills on time.Now, I understand that many Americans are defaulting on their debt, and that's why these companies claim the need to raise rates. One of the causes of this economic crisis was that too many people were living beyond their means with mortgages they couldn't afford, buying things they couldn't pay for, maxing out on credit cards that they couldn't pay down. And in the last decade, Americans' credit card debt has increased by 25 percent. Nearly half of all Americans carry a balance on their cards, and those who do have an average balance over $7,000.So we have been complicit in these problems. We've contributed to our own problems. We've got to change how we operate. But these practices, they've only grown worse in the midst of this recession, when hardworking Americans can afford them least. Now fees silently appear. Payment deadlines suddenly move. Millions of cardholders have seen their interest rates jump in the past six months.You should not have to worry that when you sign up for a credit card, you're signing away all your rights. You shouldn't need a magnifying glass or a law degree to read the fine print that sometimes don't even appear to be written in English -- or Spanish. (Applause.) And frankly, when you're trying to navigate your way through this economy, you shouldn't feel like you're getting ripped off by "any time, any reason" rate hikes, and payment deadlines that seem to move around every month. That happen to anybody? You think you're supposed to pay it this day, and suddenly -- and it's never on the end of the month where you're paying all the rest of your bills, right? It's like on the 19th. (Laughter.) All kinds of harsh penalties and fees that you never knew about.Enough is enough. It's time for strong, reliable protections for our consumers. It's time for reform -- (applause) -- it's time for reform that's built on transparency and accountability and mutual responsibility -- values fundamental to the new foundation we seek to build for our economy.
(The President greets the crowd at a town hall on credit card reform at Rancho Rio High School in Rancho Rio, New Mexico on May 14, 2009. White House Photo, Chuck Kennedy.)Read all the details of the plan in the full transcript of the town hall, or distilled in the White House fact sheet, which identifies these core elements:- Ban Unfair Rate Increases
- Prevent Unfair Fee & Interest Rate Charges
- Plain Sight /Plain Language Disclosures
- Market Transparency
- Accountability
- Protections for Students and Young People
Long overdue. -
May 13, 2009
08:09 PM EDTSecretary Clinton launched a new initiative today to allow for a rising generation of citizen diplomats to conduct digital diplomacy.
Virtual Student Foreign Service (VSFS) Internships, announced by Secretary Clinton at the 2009 New York University commencement speech, are part of a growing effort by the State Department to harness technology and a commitment to global service among young people to facilitate new forms of diplomatic engagement. The VSFS Internships will be developed over the next year and will seek to harness the energy of a rising generation of citizen diplomats.Working from college and university campuses in the United States, American students will partner with our embassies abroad to conduct digital diplomacy that reflects the realities of our networked world. By combining the talents of young people across America and the right technology, we can forge the solutions that our century demands.Sign up to receive more information and updates on Virtual Student Foreign Service Internships.Join the Virtual Student Foreign Service Facebook community. -
Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.download .mp4 (92.6 MB) | read the transcriptThis morning the President, Speaker Pelosi, and Leadership from the House of Representatives emerged from a meeting together with a new target on moving forward with health reform: pass legislation through the House by July 31st. The President spoke to the press after the Speaker in the South Drive at the Oval Office, telling them that "this is a gorgeous day and an encouraging day":On health care, as Speaker Pelosi just mentioned, the House is working to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by July 31st, before they head out for the August recess. And that's the kind of urgency and determination that we need to achieve what I believe will be historic legislation.As I've said before, and as all Americans know, our health care system is broken. It's unsustainable for families, for businesses. It is unsustainable for the federal government and state governments.We've had a lot of discussions in this town about deficits and people across the political spectrum like to throw barbs back and forth about debt and deficits. The fact of the matter is the most significant driver by far of our long-term debt and our long-term deficits is ever-escalating health care costs. And if we don't reform how health care is delivered in this country, then we are not going to be able to get a handle on that.Now, in addition to the implications for the federal budget, obviously we're also thinking about the millions of American families out there who are struggling to pay premiums that have doubled over the last decade -- rising four times the rate of their wages -- and 46 million Americans who don't have any health insurance at all.
<(President Barack Obama meets with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and House Education and Labor Committee Chair Rep. George Miller, in the Oval Office Wednesday, May 13, 2009. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Rep. Henry Waxman, and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Rep. Charlie Rangel also attended the meeting but are not in the photo.Official White house Photo by Pete Souza.)The President also re-emphasized the necessity of getting final legislation passed by both the House and the Senate and signed this year. In closing, the President laid out his basic principles:In the coming weeks and months, I believe that the House and Senate will be engaged in a difficult issue, and I'm committed to building a transparent process to get this moving. But whatever plans emerge, both from the House and the Senate, I do believe that they've got to uphold three basic principles: first, that the rising cost of health care has to be brought down; second, that Americans have to be able to choose their own doctor and their own plan; and third, all Americans have to have quality, affordable health care.UPDATE: The President also just sent out his first email to those who have signed up for updates here at WhiteHouse.gov. If you have not signed up yet, do so here to get alerts on health care and other important issues. Read today’s email below:Good afternoon,You are receiving this email because you signed up at WhiteHouse.gov. My staff and I plan to use these messages as a way to directly communicate about important issues and opportunities, and today I have some encouraging updates about health care reform.The Vice President and I just met with leaders from the House of Representatives and received their commitment to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill by July 31.We also have an unprecedented commitment from health care industry leaders, many of whom opposed health reform in the past. Monday, I met with some of these health care stakeholders, and they pledged to do their part to reduce the health care spending growth rate, saving more than two trillion dollars over the next ten years -- around $2,500 for each American family. Then on Tuesday, leaders from some of America's top companies came to the White House to showcase innovative ways to reduce health care costs by improving the health of their workers.Now the House and Senate are beginning a critical debate that will determine the health of our nation's economy and its families. This process should be transparent and inclusive and its product must drive down costs, assure quality and affordable health care for everyone, and guarantee all of us a choice of doctors and plans.Reforming health care should also involve you. Think of other people who may want to stay up to date on health care reform and other national issues and tell them to join us here:Health care reform can't come soon enough. We spend more on health care than any country, but families continue to struggle with skyrocketing premiums and nearly 46 million are without insurance entirely. It is a priority for the American people and a pillar of the new foundation we are seeking to build for our economy.We'll continue to keep you posted about this and other important issues.Thank you,
Barack ObamaP.S. If you'd like to get more in-depth information about health reform and how you can participate, be sure to visit http://www.HealthReform.gov -
[UPDATE: The live-stream has concluded, we will keep you updated on the reports back from the rest of the day. In the meantime, see the Food Safety Working Group's new website.]Starting at 9:00 AM Eastern:
- Watch the opening of the Food Safety Working Group Listening Session at WhiteHouse.gov/live, kicked off by Secretary Sebelius and Secretary Vilsack, the co-chairs of the Working Group.
- Have a suggestion for reforming food safety policy? Drop it in our comment form, or let the Working Group know on twitter (hashtag #WHsafefood) or at our Facebook page.
In his March 14th Weekly Address, the President announced the creation of the Food Safety Working Group, chaired by the Secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture. As the President said, the working group "will bring together cabinet secretaries and senior officials to advise me on how we can upgrade our food safety laws for the 21st century; foster coordination throughout government; and ensure that we are not just designing laws that will keep the American people safe, but enforcing them."The White House Listening Session today is intended as an opportunity to engage stakeholders in a conversation to help shape the principles guiding reform. The opening remarks will be followed by smaller group breakout sessions with Administration and Congressional staff and stakeholders to discuss how to address major challenges and opportunities in this area. Along with the ideas and exchanges from the breakouts, Working Group staff will be sifting through your comments from all of the channels above to find valuable ideas and get a hint of what people interested in this topic are thinking. -
Tonight, the President and the First Lady will host an evening celebrating poetry, music and the spoken word. This event is designed around the theme of dialogue, showing how dialogue is important in every aspect of who we are as Americans and as human beings, and demonstrating how communication is a constant throughout the ages. The hope is also that this evening's gathering helps ensure that all voices are heard, particularly voices that are often not heard. We are fortunate to have a wide variety of upcoming and legendary performers such as Joshua Bennett, James Earl Jones, Eric Lewis, Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, Mayda Del Valle and Esperanza Spalding.We have invited students from American, Gallaudet, Georgetown, and Howard Universities to participate in the event. And of course we also invite you to join us, as we're streaming the event live at 7pm on WhiteHouse.gov/live.
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In a post entitled "Clearing the Air":Media reports today are suggesting that OMB has found fault with EPA’s proposed finding that emissions of greenhouse gases from motor vehicles contribute to air pollution that endangers public health and welfare. Any reports suggesting that OMB was opposed to the finding are unfounded.
The quotations circulating in the press are from a document in which OMB simply collated and collected disparate comments from various agencies during the inter-agency review process of the proposed finding. These collected comments were not necessarily internally consistent, since they came from multiple sources, and they do not necessarily represent the views of either OMB or the Administration. In other words, we simply receive comments from various agencies and pass them along to EPA for consideration, regardless of the substantive merit of those comments. In general, passing along these types of comments to an agency proposing a finding often helps to improve the quality of the notice.
Perhaps more importantly, OMB concluded review of the preliminary finding several weeks ago, which then allowed EPA to move forward with the proposed finding. As I wrote on this blog on April 17, the "proposed finding is carefully rooted in both law and science." I also noted: "By itself, the EPA’s proposed finding imposes no regulation. (Indeed, by itself, it requires nothing at all.) If and when the endangerment finding is made final, the EPA will turn to the question whether and how to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new automobiles."
The bottom line is that OMB would have not concluded review, which allows the finding to move forward, if we had concerns about whether EPA’s finding was consistent with either the law or the underlying science. The press reports to the contrary are simply false.
Yet another reason to check Director Orszag’s blog regularly. -
Yesterday, the President held a landmark meeting with a wide array of leaders in the health care field – insurance companies, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and providers –who pledged to work together to control costs in health care to the tune of $2 trillion in savings over the next ten years. Today, the President held another meeting with five employers, a state health department, and a union to discuss innovative ideas that are being implemented in the workplace to improve the health of workers and reduce the rising rate of health care spending.
(President Barack Obama listens to Safeway President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Burd during a meeting with business leaders in the Roosevelt Room of the White House to discuss employer health care costs, May 12, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.)The President directed the Office of Personnel Management to work with the Office of Health Reform, the National Economic Council, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Management and Budget to examine successful employer wellness and prevention practices that lower health care costs and improve employees’ health, and to explore possibilities of developing a plan for federal employees and their workplaces.More generally, the discussion was designed to expand on the theme that the health care system in America needs comprehensive reform, including a much greater focus on wellness and prevention. As the President stated in his remarks afterwards, "what we've done here today is to gather together some of these stories and best practices to make sure that they are going to be informing the health care reform discussions that take place here in Washington." If these companies have been able to implement proven measures in the private sector, "there’s no reason why we can’t do that for the country as a whole." The White House fact sheet details the attendees and the kinds of practices they have been implementing:- H.E.R.E.I.U. Welfare Fund(Dr. Jerry Reeves, Chief Medical Officer): The Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (H.E.R.E.I.U.) Welfare Fund offers multi-employer health insurance coverage for 90,000 eligible employees and their family members. It redesigned its health benefits and health plan administration and implemented wellness and chronic disease management programs to generate millions of dollars in overall savings. The H.E.R.E.I.U. Welfare Fund has also aligned incentives with desired behaviors by informing patients which physicians were high-performing, providing performance bonuses to high-performing doctors, and giving pregnant patients incentives to receive prenatal care. These initiatives have effectively engaged workers to improve their health through widespread use of employee risk assessments, risk-based interventions, and behavior change programs. The H.E.R.E.I.U. Welfare Fund also has worksite pharmacies that give out free generic drugs for chronic conditions and provide special care centers for workers and family members who have high cost and complex chronic conditions.
- Johnson & Johnson (Bill Weldon, Chairman of the Board and CEO): Johnson & Johnson has one of the longest-running workplace health programs in the United States. The company has a sophisticated set of disease management and prevention interventions, risk-based incentives, pedometers/exercise goals, treadmills available for offices, and other health related programs. According to its recent employee health scorecard for United States employees, at the end of 2007, Johnson & Johnson continued to make health improvement progress and its health initiatives avoided an estimated $15.9 million in health care costs in 2007. As well, from the late 1990s to 2006 in the United States, smoking declined from 12 percent of its workforce to four percent, high blood pressure dropped from 14 percent to six percent, and high cholesterol went from 19 percent to six percent. A 2002 Rand study found that Johnson & Johnson’s initiatives had improved employee health and employees had saved an average of $225 per year because of a reduced need for doctor visits.
- Microsoft (Cecily Hall, Director of US Benefits): Microsoft creates personalized health goals and has a staff of doctors that makes house calls to avoid emergency room visits. Its obesity program assigns employees to a primary care doctor, behavior health specialist, and nutritionist, and Microsoft provides free meals consistent with diet recommendations to eat on site or to take home. The result of its initiatives has been very low premium growth and a healthier workforce than other companies with workers of similar age. Microsoft has been continually recognized as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work.
- Ohio Department of Health (Dr. Alvin Jackson, Director of Ohio Department of Health): The State of Ohio created a "Take Charge! Live Well!" program to reduce health risk factors for state workers, with more than 50 percent of eligible workers participating. Until 2005, health care programs for state employees in Ohio focused on disease management and improving the health of high-risk groups. After reviewing data, the state discovered that while 27 percent of total health care costs were related to high-risk employees, 44 percent of costs were associated with preventable conditions. Ohio’s "Take Charge! Live Well!" comprehensive health management program includes online and telephone health assessments, health coaching, online health improvement program, on-site employee health screenings (offered at about 40 locations), preventive care, chronic condition management, and monetary incentives of up to $100 in incentive payments, or $200 when spouses are enrolled, if employees complete a health assessment and participate in a health improvement program.
- Pitney Bowes (Murray Martin, Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO): Pitney Bowes offers onsite comprehensive health clinics and fitness centers, redesigned food merchandizing and prices in their cafeterias, incentives management for the health of their employees, and low cost drugs for chronic diseases. The company has also adopted infection control practices and offers low-cost or no-cost preventive screenings and immunizations on-site and off-site. The company’s initiatives and its commitment to increase employee participation in managing their own health have resulted in $40 million in savings over the last nine years.
- REI (Sally Jewell, President and CEO): REI offers health benefits to all of its full and part-time workers and has been continually recognized as one of Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work. The company offers employees support for outdoor activities ranging from outdoor gear and apparel discounts, free rentals, and outdoor challenge grants. REI employees can earn extra healthy lifestyle dollars to put toward the cost of coverage by engaging in specific "good behaviors," such as getting regular aerobic exercise. REI also supports personal health goals and provides equipment support, discounts, and time off so employees can achieve their goals.
- Safeway (Steve Burd, President and CEO): Safeway has innovated in benefit design to reward employees’ healthy behaviors and improve adherence to recommended treatments for chronic diseases. Over 74 percent of Safeway’s 30,000 nonunion workers have signed up for its "Healthy Measures" program. Under this program, participants undergo screening tests (including cholesterol, blood pressure, and weight control), and employees who score well pay lower health premiums. Safeway has saved millions by making employees accountable for their weight, smoking, cholesterol, and blood pressure. The company also has a free fitness center at its headquarters, offers gym membership discounts, and provides a 24-hour nurse health hotline. In 2006, Safeway’s efforts reduced their total health care spending by 13 percent, and employees who signed up have saved more than 20 percent on their premiums.
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Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.download .mp4 (175.7 MB) | read the transcript
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Watch the President’s introduction below, then take a look around OPE’s new section of WhiteHouse.gov.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.download .mp4 (25.7 MB)And for those who have been with us since the Transition period, you might remember the Citizen’s Briefing Book, which you will see the President holding in the video above:
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Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.download .mp4 (114.4 MB) | read the transcriptToday the President hosted a meeting that marked one of the most promising signs for health reform to date, and not only because the topic was saving more than $2 trillion on health care costs. Representatives from hospitals, the insurance industry, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, labor and physicians came to the White House to discuss major steps being taken to lower health care costs across the board.
The President explained the significance of having so many diverse stakeholders at the table:And that's what makes today's meeting so remarkable -- because it's a meeting that might not have been held just a few years ago. The groups who are here today represent different constituencies with different sets of interests. They've not always seen eye to eye with each other or with our government on what needs to be done to reform health care in this country. In fact, some of these groups were among the strongest critics of past plans for comprehensive reform.But what's brought us all together today is a recognition that we can't continue down the same dangerous road we've been traveling for so many years; that costs are out of control; and that reform is not a luxury that can be postponed, but a necessity that cannot wait. It's a recognition that the fictional television couple, Harry and Louise, who became the iconic faces of those who opposed health care reform in the '90s, desperately need health care reform in 2009. And so does America.
(President Barack Obama meeting with healthcare stakeholders in the Roosevelt Room at White House May 11, 2009. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)- Read the full attendee list
- Read the letter sent by the groups to the President (pdf)
- Read the full fact sheet (pdf)
In short, the coalition has agreed to reduce the annual health care spending growth rate by 1.5 percentage points for the next 10 years, a change that could result in savings of roughly $2,500 for American families. Some of the changes the coalition is working on, explained fully in the fact sheet, include:- Improving Care after Hospitalizations and Reduce Hospital Readmission Rates.
- Reducing Medicare Overpayments to Private Insurers through Competitive Payments.
- Reducing Drug Prices.
- Improving Medicare and Medicaid Payment Accuracy.
- Expanding the Hospital Quality Improvement Program.
The President closed his remarks making clear that this was just the beginning, and certainly no stopgap measure: "So the steps that are being announced today are significant. But the only way these steps will have an enduring impact is if they are taken not in isolation, but as part of a broader effort to reform our entire health care system." And while so much debate over politics and policy can get lost in the mire of facts and figured, the President made clear that his focus is squarely on one thing:Ultimately, the debate about reducing costs -- and the larger debate about health care reform itself -- is not just about numbers; it's not just about forms or systems; it's about our own lives and the lives of our loved ones. And I understand that. As I've mentioned before during the course of the campaign, my mother passed away from ovarian cancer a little over a decade ago. And in the last weeks of her life, when she was coming to grips with her own mortality and showing extraordinary courage just to get through each day, she was spending too much time worrying about whether her health insurance would cover her bills. So I know what it's like to see a loved one who is suffering, but also having to deal with a broken health care system. I know that pain is shared by millions of Americans all across this country.Today is a hopeful day. -
Watch the full video, read the full transcript in Spanish or the President's remarks in English.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.download .mp4 (677.3 MB) | read the transcriptOn Friday we held a first-ever for the White House, a Spanish language town hall meeting to listen to the Hispanic community's concerns and inform the public about the government’s efforts to control the impact of the H1N1 virus. The town hall featured Administration officials including Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, and an audience of 130 or so folks including health care workers, community activists, and concerned citizens, and was moderated by Univision Anchor Edna Schmidt, whose network partnered up with us on this important event.The speakers at the town hall were: U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis; DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Esther Olavarria; Dr. Felipe Lobelo of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Special Assistant to the President for Justice and Regulatory Policy Tino Cuellar; and Univision Anchor Edna Schmidt.*******El viernes llevamos a cabo algo que no se había hecho antes en la Casa Blanca, una asamblea pública en español cuyo propósito era permitirnos escuchar las inquietudes de la comunidad hispana e informar al público sobre los esfuerzos del gobierno para controlar el impacto del virus H1N1. La asamblea pública contó con la participación de funcionarios de la Administración incluyendo a la Secretaria Hilda Solis, una audiencia de 130 personas incluyendo trabajadores del sector de cuidado de salud, activistas comunitarios, y ciudadanos preocupados, y fue moderada por la presentadora de Univisión Edna Schmidt, ya que su cadena trabajó con nosotros para lograr este importante evento.Los presentadores de la asamblea fueron: Hilda Solís, secretaria de Trabajo de Estados Unidos; Esther Olavarría, subsecretaria adjunta para política de Seguridad Nacional; Dr. Felipe Lobelo del Centro de Control y Prevención de Enfermedades; Tino Cuéllar, asesor especial del Presidente sobre justicia y política normativa, y Edna Schmidt, presentadora de Univisión.
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This week the President recaps a busy week, from strides on fiscal discipline, to financial stability, to cracking down on tax havens and tax breaks for shifting jobs overseas. For his next big step, he calls for a credit card reform bill: "Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe. But they also have a right to not get ripped off by the sudden rate hikes, unfair penalties, and hidden fees that have become all-too common in our credit card industry." Watch Your Weekly Address to hear what he plans to do about it.Viewing this video requires Adobe Flash Player 8 or higher. Download the free player.
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Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced this morning that starting July 4th, the crown of the Statue of Liberty will be open to visitors again, and the Baggage and Dormitory Building at Ellis Island, built in 1908 to house immigrants waiting for further processing, will be restored.The press release has lots more on this history there, as well as the role of the National Parks Service under DOI. The Secretary was there this morning:
(Maria Burks, commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar make their way to the crown of the Statue of Liberty. Photo credit Tami Heilemann, DOI) -
This morning the April employment numbers were released, showing that our economy lost 539,000 jobs, bringing the total number of jobs lost since this recession began to 5.7 million. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis opened her statement by saying that the numbers "reflect the urgent needs of Americans, and they are the focus of this administration's immediate action and relief." But she closed noting that, "As the comprehensive plan of the administration takes hold, we have begun to see signs of recovery. We've seen the financial system and the housing market stabilize. New jobs are being created as ground has broken on thousands of new infrastructure projects in all 50 states."And so with the tremendous task of turning around the economy on a national scale ongoing, the President announced a new set of programs to help make the task of individuals turning around their own lives a little bit easier. The President made clear that, in reality, fighting unemployment and creating a 21st Century economy nationally would come down individuals finding individual jobs, and better yet find training for the kinds of jobs that would last for decades:Now is the time to put a new foundation for growth in place -- to rebuild our economy, to retrain our workforce, and re-equip the American people. And now is the time to change unemployment from a period of "wait and see" to a chance for our workers to train and seek the next opportunity -- so when that new and better day does come around, our people, our industry, and our entire country are ready to make the most of it.As he often does, the President discussed how the ideas he had in mind related to somebody he knew. In this case it was Maureen Pike, who Maureen lost her job as a physician's receptionist, but kept afloat with unemployment benefits and used Pell Grants to become a registered nurse through community college. The President talked about her example as enabled by unique rules in the state of Maine:But today, far too many Americans are denied that opportunity. Let me just give you an example. Say an unemployed factory worker wants to upgrade his skills to become a mechanic or a technician. In many states, that worker might lose temporary financial support if he enrolls in a training program. And to make matters worse, unemployment might mean he can't afford higher education, and he likely won't qualify for federal help simply because he may have made a decent salary a year ago, before he was laid off.Well, that doesn't make much sense for our economy or our country. So we're going to change it. First, we'll open new doors to higher education and job training programs to recently laid-off workers who are receiving unemployment benefits. And if those displaced workers need help paying for their education, they should get it -- and that's why the next step is to make it easier for them to receive Pell Grants of the sort that Maureen used.I've asked my Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, and my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to work closely with states and our institutions of higher learning and encourage them not only to allow these changes, but to inform all workers receiving unemployment benefits of the training programs and financial support open to them. And together, the Department of Education and the Department of Labor have created a new website called opportunity.gov -- I'll repeat that, opportunity.gov -- to help workers discover and take advantage of these opportunities.And together, these changes will increase access to education and opportunity for hundreds of thousands of workers who've been stung by this recession -- people just like Maureen. And like her, many may take advantage of one of America's underappreciated assets -- and that's our community colleges. These schools offer practical education and technical training, and they're increasingly important centers of learning where Americans can prepare for the jobs of the future.And that's also why I'm asking Dr. Jill Biden, a community college professor who's devoted her entire life to education -- and who happens to be married to the Vice President -- to lead a national effort to raise awareness about what we're doing to open the doors to our community colleges.
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Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis is joining other Administration officials for a Latino town hall meeting to listen to the community’s concerns and inform the public about the government’s efforts to control the impact of the H1N1 virus.
- Watch live at WhiteHouse.gov/live2 [UPDATE: This event has concluded.]
Learn more, including all of the participants and partners, in yesterday's release.UPDATE: The President made a surprise visit immediately before the event began:
(President Barack Obama speaks at the Latino Town Hall meeting on the H1N1 swine flu virus at the White House Friday, May 8, 2009. Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. Hola. (Applause.) Thank you. Please, everybody have a seat. (Applause.) Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. Please, everybody have a seat.AUDIENCE MEMBER: Viva Obama! (Applause.)THE PRESIDENT: Now, I don't want to take up too much time. I just wanted to stop by and let you know how important I think this is.Obviously, all of us are concerned about the health of our families and our children. And our experience with the H1N1 virus over the last couple of weeks is a sobering reminder of how vital it is that we all recognize we're all in this together. We're one country, we're one community. When one person gets sick, that has the potential of making us all sick. And when we help to make everybody well, one person well, then everybody has the potential to get well. We can’t be divided by communities.And that means that government at every level has to make sure that good information is getting out to every part of the broader American community. And that's part of the reason why we wanted to do this today. It's our first step in making sure that whenever we have a public health issue that has to be addressed, that everybody is on the same page.So I want to ensure everybody that we're seeing that the virus may not have been as virulent as we at first feared, but we're not out of the woods yet and we still have to take precautions. Many of you are community leaders; obviously those who are viewing this on television are going to be able to give information to your friends and family about washing your hands, about covering your mouths, staying home if you're sick, keeping children home from school if they're sick. That kind of common-sense approach can make all the difference in the world.And so I just want to thank the Center for Disease Control. They've been vigilant on this issue. They believe that we're going to have to keep on taking some precautions, and we may have to prepare for an even worse flu season sometime in the fall. This H1N1 flu obviously has hit Mexico much more badly than it's hit us so far, and I've been working very closely -- I spoke to President Calderón last weekend to ensure that we were providing Mexico with the assistance that it needed, because one of the things that we have to understand is public health issues like this -- not only is it important for all communities within the United States to be working together, it's also important to be working internationally together.So I'm very proud of this first White House town hall meeting conducted entirely in Spanish. I am grateful -- except for my part. (Laughter.) You know, I'm kind of messing up the whole thing. (Laughter.) I'm grateful for Univision for hosting us, and I'm happy to see that we've got officials from many different departments, including my Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis.So I want to let you continue with your conversation. I hope you learn something. Please ask questions -- these folks are extraordinarily well informed -- and then distribute the information that you learn from this town hall throughout your communities. And this is just the first of many, I hope, mechanisms for outreach that will improve the quality of service that the White House provides to the American people.So, muchas gracias. Thank you. (Applause.)
Watch all the musical acts
