    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book I)]
    [January 20, 2007]
    [Pages 39-41]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    January 20, 2007

        Good morning. For many Americans, the new year began with a
    resolution to live a better and healthier life. Whatever goals you have
    set for yourself this year, one

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    goal we can all share is reforming our Nation's health care system.
        Americans are fortunate to have the best health care system in the
    world. The Government has an important role to play in our system. We
    have an obligation to provide care for the most vulnerable members of
    our society: the elderly, the disabled, and poor children and their
    parents. We are meeting this responsibility through Medicare, Medicaid,
    and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. We must strengthen
    these vital programs, so that they are around when future generations
    need them.
        For all other Americans, private health insurance is the best way to
    meet their needs. But rising health care costs are making insurance too
    expensive for millions of our citizens. Health care costs are growing
    more than two times faster than wages, and this is making it harder for
    working families to buy insurance on their own. Rising costs are also
    making it harder for small businesses to offer health coverage to their
    employees. Our challenge is clear: We must address these rising costs,
    so that more Americans can afford basic health insurance, and we need to
    do it without creating a new Federal entitlement program or raising
    taxes.
        Our Nation is making progress toward this goal. We created health
    savings accounts, which empower patients and can reduce the cost of
    coverage. We are working to pass association health plans, so that small
    businesses can insure their workers at the favorable discounts that big
    businesses get. We must pass medical liability reform, so we can stop
    the junk lawsuits that drive costs through the roof and good doctors out
    of practice. We've taken important steps to increase transparency in
    health care pricing and give patients more information about the quality
    of their doctors and hospitals.
        One of the most promising ways to make private health insurance more
    affordable is by reforming the Federal Tax Code. Today, the Tax Code
    unfairly penalizes people who do not get health insurance through their
    job. It unwisely encourages workers to choose overly expensive, gold-
    plated plans. The result is that insurance premiums rise, and many
    Americans cannot afford the coverage they need.
        We need to fix these problems, and one way to do so is to treat
    health insurance more like homeownership. The current Tax Code
    encourages homeownership by allowing you to deduct the interest on your
    mortgage from your taxes. We can reform the Tax Code so that it provides
    a similar incentive for you to buy health insurance. So in my State of
    the Union Address next Tuesday, I will propose a tax reform designed to
    help make basic private health insurance more affordable, whether you
    get it through your job or on your own.
        As we reform the Federal Tax Code, we will also support the
    innovative measures that States are taking to address the problem of the
    uninsured. Governors across the Nation have put forward plans to make
    basic private health insurance more accessible for their citizens. When
    I go before Congress next week, I will announce a new effort, led by
    Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, to help Governors reduce the number of people in their
    States without private health insurance.
        All of these changes are based on a clear principle: Health
    insurance should be available, it should be affordable, and it should
    put you and your doctor in charge of your medical decisions. I look
    forward to working with Congress to pass the initiatives that I lay out
    next week, so we can help millions more Americans enjoy better care, new
    choices, and healthier lives.
        Thank you for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 7:35 a.m. on January 19 in the Cabinet
    Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on January 20. The
    transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on

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    January 19, but was embargoed for release until the broadcast. The
    Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language
    transcript of this address.