Obama Renews Health IT Call
President-elect Barack Obama on Saturday reiterated his interest in overhauling the nation's healthcare system "to cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, and help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars each year" through the power of information technology. In his weekly radio address, Obama said such changes would "save not only jobs, but money and lives." He also mentioned electronic medical records during a speech in December where he outlined a massive public-works program and a plan to "renew our information superhighway."
In this speech, he said "to make America, and our children, a success in this new global economy, we will build 21st century classrooms, labs, and libraries." Policymakers must enact an "American recovery and reinvestment plan that not only creates jobs in the short-term but spurs economic growth and competitiveness in the long-term," Obama said, adding that it must be designed in a new way. "We can't just fall into the old Washington habit of throwing money at the problem," he said. "We must make strategic investments that will serve as a down payment on our long-term economic future. We must demand vigorous oversight and strict accountability for achieving results."
Obama is scheduled to meet next week with leaders from both parties to discuss his plan. "There is no reason we can't do this. We are a people of boundless industry and ingenuity. We are innovators and entrepreneurs and have the most dedicated and productive workers in the world," he said in the speech, which was also posted on YouTube. "We have always triumphed in moments of trial by drawing on that great American spirit -- that perseverance, determination and unyielding commitment to opportunity on which our nation was founded. In this new year, let us resolve to do so once more."
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