09-09-12.txt

Prepared Remarks of President
Barack Obama
Weekly Address
Saturday, September 12th, 2009
On Wednesday, I addressed a joint session of Congress and the American people about why we need health insurance reform and what it will take to do it.
Since then, I¡¯ve continued to hear from many Americans across the country about why this is so urgent and important.
I¡¯ve heard from Americans who can¡¯t get health coverage; men and women who worry that one accident or illness could drive them into bankruptcy.
And I¡¯ve heard from Americans with insurance who thought that "the uninsured" always referred to someone else ¨C but between skyrocketing costs and pany practices; they¡¯re beginning to worry that they could find themselves uninsured too.
It¡¯s an anxiety that¡¯s keeping more and more Americans awake at night. Over the last twelve months, nearly six million more Americans lost their health coverage ¨C that¡¯s 17,000 men and women every single day. We¡¯re not just talking about Americans in poverty, either ¨C we¡¯re talking about middle-class Americans. In other words, it can happen to anyone.
And based on a brand-new report from the Treasury Department, we can expect that about half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next ten years. If you¡¯re under the age of 21 today, chances are more than half that you¡¯ll find yourself unin