B’nai B’rith was pleased with some of the details in the president’s specific policy proposals. Of course, a 47-minute speech cannot address all details. B’nai B’rith hopes that, as lawmakers continue to debate reform legislation, more details will emerge and the book is left open for some changes, especially with regard to ending insurance discrimination once and for all.

“With this address, the president reclaimed the agenda from those who would rather do nothing,” B’nai B’rith Director of Aging Policy Rachel Goldberg, Ph.D., said. “It’s fine to have differences of opinion, but they cannot come at the expense of making real changes or be resolved by using half truths, fabrications, and scare tactics.”

Our current system, with 47 million Americans uninsured, millions underinsured (leaving them one medical catastrophe from bankruptcy), and most with insurance tied to their jobs in an unstable job market, has some very real problems. Without reforms, these problems will continue to threaten the physical health of far too many, and the economic health of the nation.

B’nai B’rith is encouraged that the president spoke directly to the concerns of seniors. The president said of Medicare, it’s a “sacred trust that must be passed down” from one generation to the next. It was also heartening that the president directly debunked some of the most misleading rumors about how reform would affect Medicare.

“The most effective anti-healthcare reform scare tactics have been directed at senior citizens, who would actually benefit from proposed improvements to Medicare,” Mark Olshan, B’nai B’rith International associate executive vice president said. “The plans being discussed by the president and Congress would strengthen Medicare financially and eliminate notorious gaps like the ‘donut hole.’”

B’nai B’rith has long advocated an end to the discrimination in health insurance pricing that has older adults paying too much for insurance. This is something we had hoped the president would have addressed. In the current insurance discriminatory practices, the “middle-aged,” the sick, and those with pre-existing or chronic conditions, are often unable to get comprehensive health insurance in the private market at a price that is even comparatively affordable. The president forcefully vowed to eliminate discrimination based on pre-existing conditions. We would have also liked to hear him talk about ending age discrimination, and we hope lawmakers take up the issue as they work toward a final plan.

B’nai B’rith is pleased the president was unequivocal in the need to act swiftly. “As the president said, healthcare costs will only continue to grow,” Goldberg said. “The United States spends more per capita on healthcare than nearly every nation in the world, but we still fall short on many measures of healthcare outcomes.”

B’nai B’rith agrees that Americans who have insurance they like should be able to keep it. So far, we are satisfied that plans emerging from the House and Senate, as well as from the president this evening, would allow people to keep what they have – which our current jumbled system does not guarantee. But coverage must be expanded to those who don’t have insurance. That will benefit everyone.

Despite a summer of misinformation and scare tactics, there already is some positive agreement. As the president noted, 80 percent of what is in the House bill – the most detailed legislation so far – has been agreed to by prominent groups of doctors, hospitals, the insurance industry, and those who advocate on behalf of the uninsured. What most people want – affordable healthcare for everyone that doesn’t go away when you get sick – is in this bill.

B’nai B’rith looks forward to working with the White House and lawmakers to make healthcare reform a reality. Comprehensive healthcare reform cannot wait.