Healthy Living: Local News

President Obama Defends Right To Choose Healthcare

President Defends Right To Choose Best Care

President Obama Defends Right To Choose Healthcare

By WKBW Programming

Story Updated: Jun 24, 2009

(ABC News) President Obama struggled to explain Wednesday whether his health care reform proposals would force normal Americans to make sacrifices that wealthier, more powerful people -- like the president himself -- wouldn't face.

Obama on how to drive down health care costs while providing adequate coverage.The probing questions came from two skeptical neurologists during ABC News' special on health care reform, "Questions for the President: Prescription for America," anchored from the White House by Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson.

Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance.

Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.

The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if "it's my family member, if it's my wife, if it's my children, if it's my grandmother I always want them to get the very best care."

"There's a whole bunch of care that's being provided that every study, that every bit of evidence that we have indicates may not be making us healthier," he said.

Gibson interjected that often patients don't know what will work until they get every test they can.

"Often times we know what makes sense and what doesn't," the president responded, making a push for evidence-based medicine.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

WKBW - TV and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Featured Professional

Ophthalmology

Atwal Eye Care



Atwal Eye Care / Buffalo Eye Care Associates is a complete eye care provider offering a full range of eye care services, including routine eye exams, along with medical/ surgical eye care. In order to make your appointment a one-stop visit, we also offer a large selection of eyeglasses and contact lenses. We specialize in Laser Vision Correction, CK, Small Incision Cataract Surgery, Glaucoma Treatment and Surgery and other Laser Surgery.

Dr. Amar Atwal is the Medical Director and Founder of Atwal Eye Care / Buffalo Eye Care Associates. Dr. Atwal specializes in Laser Vision

Correction, a procedure for patients with Myopia (nearsightedness), Hyperopia (farsightedness) or Astigmatism to reduce or eliminate their dependence on glasses or contacts. This procedure utilizes the Excimer Laser to gently reshape the cornea. The latest Laser Vision Correction procedures are called LASIK and PRK.

As a complete eye care provider, Atwal Eye Care / Buffalo Eye Care Associates also offers a large selection of glasses and contacts at our various offices. Our licensed Opticians will help you in the selection of the frame and style just right for you.

We participate with most major insurance carriers, including Medicare, Independent Health, Community Blue, Blue Cross, Senior Blue, Univera and many others.

We would like to have the opportunity to welcome you to our office and have the privilege of serving you. We believe that YOU the patient are the most important part of our practice and that you are the focus of our attention while you are here for your examination. Our goal is to make your visit with us as pleasant as possible, whether it is for a routine eye exam for glasses or contacts, for a medical condition or for a surgical procedure.

For more information call us at 896-8831. For more information on LASER VISION CORRECTION, CALL 892-2020