The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
January 09, 2010

Weekly Address: President Obama Outlines Benefits of Health Reform to Take Effect This Year

WASHINGTON –  In his weekly address, President Barack
Obama discussed the benefits of health reform that Americans will
receive in the first year, and how reform will help build a new
foundation for American families.  After reform becomes law, uninsured
Americans with a pre-existing condition will be able to purchase
affordable coverage, insurance companies will be prohibited from
imposing lifetime and annual limits on care, small business will
receive tax credits to purchase coverage for their employees, along
with many other changes.  In short, patients and doctors will have more
control over health care decisions, and insurance company bureaucrats
will have less.

Remarks of President Barack Obama
As Prepared for Delivery
Weekly Address
January 9, 2010

A year ago, when I took office in the midst of the worst recession
since the Great Depression, I promised you two things.  The first was
that there would be better days ahead.  And the second was that the
road to recovery would be long, and sometimes bumpy( [bump·y || 'bʌmpɪ
]
adj.
 颠簸的;
崎岖不平的).

That was brought home again yesterday.  We learned that in November,
our economy saw its first month of job gains in nearly two years – but
last month, we lost more than we gained.  Now, we know that no single
month makes a trend, and job losses for the final quarter of 2009 were
one-tenth what they were in the first quarter.  But until we see a
trend of good, sustainable job creation, we will be relentless([ri'lentlis

]  

adj. 无情的，冷酷的，残酷的) in our
efforts to put America back to work.

That task goes even deeper than replacing the seven million jobs
that have been lost over the past two years.  We need to rebuild our
economy in such a way that our families can feel a measure of security
again.  Too many of the folks I’ve talked with this year, and whose
stories I read in letters at night, tell me that they’ve known their
own private recessions since long before economists declared one – and
they’ll still feel the recession long after economists have declared it
over.

That’s because, for decades, Washington avoided doing what was right
in favor of doing what was easy.  And the result was an economy where
some made out well, but the middle class too often took a beating
(受到打击).

Over the past decade, the income of the average household actually
declined, and we lost as many jobs as we created. 

Hardworking folks
who did everything right suddenly found themselves forced to downscale(缩减 ... 规模或比例)
their dreams because of economic factors beyond their control.  We’re
talking about simple dreams.  American dreams.  A good job with a good
wage.  A secure and dignified retirement.  Stable health care so you
don’t go broke just because you get sick.  The chance to give our kids
a better shot than we got.

That’s why, as we begin to emerge from this crisis, we will not
return to the complacency( [kəm'pleisnsi;kəm'pleisənsi

]  

n. 自满，沾沾自喜) that helped cause it.  Even as we focus on
putting America back to work today, we’re building a new foundation for
our economy to create the good, lasting jobs and shared prosperity of
tomorrow.

We’re making historic investments in science and in a clean energy
economy that will generate and keep the jobs and industries of the
future right here in America.

We’re reforming our education system, so that our kids are fully
prepared to compete with workers anywhere in the world and win the race
for the 21st century.

We’re fixing our broken health insurance system that’s crushing
families, eating away at workers’ take-home pay, and nailing small
businesses with double-digit premium([pre·mi·um || 'prɪːmɪəm
]
n.
 奖品; 额外补贴, 津贴; 奖金;
酬金) increases.

And that’s what I’d like to focus on for a minute.  After a long and
thorough debate, we are on the verge of(

Now, it’ll take a few years to fully implement these reforms in a
responsible way.  But what every American should know is that once I
sign health insurance reform into law, there are dozens of protections
and benefits that will take effect this year.

Uninsured Americans with a pre-existing illness or condition will finally be able to purchase coverage(保险项目) they can afford.

Children with pre-existing conditions will no longer be refused
coverage, and young adults will be able to stay on their parents’
policy until they’re 26 or 27 years old.

Small business owners who can’t afford to cover their employees will be immediately offered tax credits to purchase coverage.

Early retirees who receive coverage from their employers will see their coverage protected and their premiums go down.

Seniors who fall into the coverage gap known as the donut hole will
receive discounts of up to 50 percent on their prescriptions as we
begin to close that gap altogether.

And every patient’s choice of doctor will be protected, along with access to emergency care.

Here’s what else will happen within the first year.  Insurance plans
will be required to offer free preventive care to their customers – so
that we can start catching preventable illnesses and diseases on the
front end.  They’ll no longer be allowed to impose restrictive annual
limits on the amount of coverage you receive or lifetime limits on the
amount of benefits you receive.  They’ll be prohibited from dropping
your coverage when you get sick and need it most.  And there will be a
new, independent appeals (诉诸裁判)process for anyone who feels they were
unfairly denied a claim by their insurance company.

In short, once I sign health insurance reform into law, doctors and
patients will have more control over their health care decisions, and
insurance company bureaucrats(['bu·reau·crat || 'bjʊ(ə)rəʊkræt /
]
n.
 官僚作风的人, 官僚政治论者,
官僚) will have less.  All told, these changes
represent the most sweeping reforms and toughest restrictions on
insurance companies that this country has ever known.  That’s how we’ll
make 2010 a healthier and more secure year for every American – for
those who have health insurance, and those who don’t.

We enter a new decade, now, with new perils([per·il || 'perəl
]
n.
 危险, 冒险) – but we’re going to
meet them.  It’s also a time of tremendous promise – and we’re going to
seize it. 
We will rebuild the American Dream for our middle class and
put the American economy on a stronger footing for the future.  And
this year, I am as hopeful and as confident as ever that we’re going to
rise to this moment the same way that generations of Americans always
have: as one nation, and one people. Thanks for listening.