Due to a reporting error, this story misstates the cost of Obama’s health care plan. The plan is set to cost approximately $660 billion in 10 years with the public option. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error.
As the nation restlessly waits for a decision on health care reform, a UNC doctor traveled to the White House to attempt to sway the U.S. Senate’s vote in favor of the reform.
Dr. Stephen Gamboa, clinical instructor in the department of family medicine, was one of 150 doctors invited by President Barack Obama for a meeting in the Rose Garden on Monday.
The Obama administration organized the event to show legislators that doctors from all 50 states support the reform.
“When you cut through all the noise and all the distractions that are out there, I think what’s most telling is that some of the people who are most supportive of reform are the very medical professionals who know the health care system best,” Obama said in his address to the doctors.
Gamboa said the event was crucial because the Senate is expected to vote next week on the health care proposals after a congressional budget report is released.
The report will provide details of the government’s spending on health care and could give a boost to the public insurance option that remains alive in at least four of the health care proposals, Gamboa said.
“The report is going to show that with the public option, the government is going to spend $660 billion less on health care over 10 years,” he said.
When the Senate votes, it will have the report along with the doctors’ opinions to take into account.
“In the past, doctors’ voices have not been present in the health care debate. Now … doctors’ voices are being heard,” Gamboa said.
Doctors’ opinions are important because they witness the failures of the health care system firsthand, he said.
“President Obama has been incredibly adept in bringing the voices of all the key players to the table,” Gamboa said.
The doctors also met with former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff, John Podesta, a proponent of the reform. Health care reform failed to pass in 1993 during the Clinton administration.
It needs to pass by the end of this year, Gamboa said.
“People’s lives are at stake, and our health care costs are increasing. Obama’s plan is going to help us provide the best health care in the world.”
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
