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  Date / Time: 10/6/2009 10:06 PM UTC

  Barack Obama rallies doctors on healthcare reform ahead of Senate vote
  

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  Barack Obama rallies doctors on healthcare reform ahead of Senate vote

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  • Chris McGreal in Washington
  • guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 October 2009 17.51 BST

  

  President Barack Obama talks to doctors about healthcare reform. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters

  President Obama rallied doctors to his cause for healthcare reform today but in a speech outlining the emerging legislation failed to press for a government-run medical insurance scheme that was once a centrepiece of his plans.

  The president spoke as congressional leaders began work to merge bills from two Senate committees in to a single piece of healthcare legislation that is expected to be voted on later this week.

  One of the bills, from the finance committee, which does not include government insurance is expected to have the greater influence over the new law because a number of Democratic senators have said they are not prepared to support the "public option" that has been a primary source of sometimes bitter division in the healthcare debate. Obama needs the support of all 60 Democratic members to prevent a Republic filibuster when the issue comes to a vote of the full Senate.

  The president told the white-coated doctors in the White House Rose Garden, who represented every state as well as an array of professional organisations, that the medical profession overwhelmingly backs reform because healthcare workers deal first hand with the shortcomings of the present system.

  "We have listened to every charge and every counter charge from the crazy claims about death panels [deciding to kill off old people] to misleading warnings about a government takeover of our healthcare system. But 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 healthcare system best," he said. "The reason these doctors are here is because they've seen first hand what's broken about our healthcare system. They've seen what happens when their patients can't get the care they need because some insurance company has decided to drop their coverage or water it down. They've seen what happens when a patient is forced to pay out of pocket thousands of dollars she doesn't have for treatments she desperately needs."

  Obama said that wrong will be righted by reform that will bar insurance companies from suddenly dropping patients who suddenly need expensive care or capping the amount that can be paid out. Those without insurance will be able to go to an exchange to find the most suitable coverage.

  But while there appears to be consistent public support for a government-run insurance plan alongside the existing policies offered by private companies, Obama made no reference to the public option.

  The nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation's conducted a survey last month that showed 57% of Americans support establishing a "public health insurance option" similar to the one that now exists for the elderly.

  But there is deep hostility to a government role in parts of the country, particularly the south where Democratic senators fear they will be vulnerable to political opponents who will accuse them of increasing government spending or putting bureaucrats between patients and their doctors.

  The healthcare industry has lobbied strongly against a public option, fearing that it will cut into profits.

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