Remarks in Greenwood Village, Colorado

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, Sept 20, 2004

I met Gail Lindley. She is a small-business owner from Denver. She is worried about her employees, and she's worried about the cost of health care. She understands how powerful association health care plans will be for small businesses. She said this, "My employees would be thrilled. They would be paying lower premiums. I would have more money to invest back in my company." Washington needs to understand that we need to help small businesses when it comes to health care here in America.

We need to expand tax-free health savings accounts. We will help small businesses with health savings accounts so they can provide them for their employees. Today I met Jeff Cheley. He runs a small business here. He runs Cheley Colorado Camps, CCC. He has an HSA. He's planning to provide them for his workers. He says, "It helps us cover our workers and lower overall costs. For a small family business like ours, it's a good deal." What I'm telling you is we've got a practical plan to help people who are uninsured and to help our small-business owners.

We're going to expand community health centers so poor citizens have access to preventative and primary care. As a matter of fact, I believe every poor county in America ought to have a community health center. We're going to make sure that we bring technology into medicine to lower costs. But most of all, what we need to do is to make sure that we stop these frivolous lawsuits that are running up the cost of your medicine and driving good docs out of business.

I don't think you can pro-doctor, pro-patient, pro-hospital, and pro-trial-lawyer at the same time. See, I think you have to choose. My opponent made his choice. He put him on the ticket. I made my choice. I'm standing with the docs and patients. I am for medical liability reform--now.

There is a difference of opinion when it comes to health care in this campaign. I'm running against a fellow who has proposed a massive, complicated blueprint to increase Government control over your health care.

Audience members. Boo-o-o!

The President. They estimated the cost of his plan yesterday at 1.5 trillion new dollars. And that's a lot, even for a Senator from Massachusetts. [Laughter] I believe that we--I believe America is better suited for our commonsense plan that says health decisions will be made by doctors and patients, not by bureaucrats in Washington, DC.

In changing times, it helps to bring stability in people's life if they own something. We're going to continually promote an ownership society in America. Do you realize the homeownership rate in America, under my administration, is at an alltime high? It's a fantastic statistic, isn't it? During the next term, we'll continue to promote ownership to every corner of this country. I love the fact that more and more people from all walks of life are opening the place where they live--open that door up where they live, saying, "Welcome to my home. Welcome to my piece of property."

I think we need to extend the concept of ownership to the retirement systems. If you're a senior citizen, Social Security is going to pay what they said they're going to pay. I don't care what the politicians in Washington tell you; the promise will be kept. If you're a baby boomer like me, we're in good shape when it comes to Social Security.