ABC News: President Confirms $1 Trillion for Health-Care Reform

From ABC News: President Obama says he's found a way to pay for health-care reform. "Today, I am announcing an additional $313 billion in savings," he said in his weekly address, released Saturday. That's in addition to the $635 billion in other savings he has already identified, he said, making up the roughly $1 trillion it will take to overhaul the nation's health-care system.

"For example, if more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance," Mr. Obama said. "If the drug makers pay their fair share, we can cut government spending on prescription drugs."

Critics say that is easier said than done. Most of the savings the president outlined would come from lowering payments from Medicare and Medicaid, which would reduce the payments to hospitals and drug makers, which are unlikely to accept less without a struggle.

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Karen Ignagni, president/CEO of America's Health Insurance Plans, told ABC, "If you look at the proposals that have been laid on the table thus far, it will bankrupt all of the major hospitals in the United States because it pays at public program rates, which are already significantly underfunding providers."

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