Seeking larger Democratic support for his healthcare bill, President Barack Obama came down heavily on US health insurers on Monday for raising premiums sharply and refusing treatment to the sick.
“Every year, insurance companies deny more people coverage because they have a pre-existing condition. Every year, they drop more people’s coverage when they’re sick and need it most,” Obama told the students of Arcadia University near Philadelphia. “Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher and higher,” he added.
Political critics, including those in his own party have said accepting the legislation could cost the Democrats their majority in Congress in the November polls.
Obama, in a bid to reform America’s highly-expensive healthcare system, has strongly accused companies of constantly strategizing to increasing premium charges, in a bid to leave out more number of people from their loop.
Obama’s administration has also sent letters to insurance companies asking them to validate rate increase by making cost and enrollment charges public.
Renewing a populist attack on big insurers, Obama accused the companies of making a calculation with a strategy of increasing premium charges. He said the companies were aware that many people would be priced out of the market by the increases, but they believe they could make more money by raising premiums on existing customers.
Obama and other administration officials have sought to draw a link between the insurers and another political foil — big Wall Street companies — by emphasizing their profit-hungry culture.
Obama and his fellow Democrats are pushing to pass stalled healthcare overhaul, which would reshape the $2.5 trillion industry by cutting costs, regulating insurers and expanding coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
Healthcare is expected to be a big matter in the congressional elections to be held in November.
The two Congress chambers have passed differing versions of the legislation, but efforts to merge the two and send a final version for Obama to sign into law ended in January after a special election cost the Democrats the crucial 60th Senate vote needed to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.
Democrats now plan to use a special procedure that would allow them to pass the bill with a simple majority in the 100-seat Senate.
Republicans say Obama’s healthcare overhaul would be too costly and involve a lot of intrusion from the government. The detractors have criticized the move saying the reconciliation process should not be used for reshaping the country’s healthcare policy.
The House of Representatives would vote by the end of March on the bill, which needs 216 votes to be passed.
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