Remarks on the Nomination of Regina M. Benjamin to Be Surgeon General and an Exchange with Reporters July 13, 2009

Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / July 13 Remarks on the Nomination of Regina M. Benjamin To Be Surgeon General and an Exchange With Reporters July 13, 2009 The President. Good morning, everybody. our Government. Premiums will continue to Before I introduce America’s next Surgeon skyrocket, placing what amounts to another tax General, I’d like to say a few words about our on American families struggling to pay bills. ongoing efforts to reform the health care system The insurance companies and special interests that she will help oversee. that have killed reform in the past will only con- We are now closer to the goal of health care tinue to benefit even more, and they’ll continue reform than we have ever been. Over the last to deny coverage to Americans with preexisting several weeks, key committees in the House medical conditions. People will continue to lose and the Senate have made important and un- health insurance just because they lose their job precedented progress on a plan that will lower or they change jobs. costs, provide better care for patients, and curb This is a future that we cannot afford. This the worst practices of the insurance companies. country can’t afford to have health care premi- It’s a plan that will not add to our deficit over ums rise three times faster than people’s wages, the next decade. Let me repeat that: It is a plan as they did over the last decade. We can’t afford that will not add to our deficit over the next de- 14,000 Americans losing their health care every cade and eventually will help lower our deficit single day. We can’t afford a future where our by slowing the skyrocketing costs of Medicare Government will eventually spend more on and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid than what we spend on Now, even though we are close, I’ve got no il- everything else. lusions that it’s going to be easy to get over the And during the campaign, I promised health finish line. There are going to be more debates care reform that would control costs, expand and more disagreements before all is said and coverage, and ensure choice. And I promised done. But health care reform must be done. that Americans making $250,000 a year or less I know there are those who believe we would not pay more in taxes. These are promis- should wait to solve this problem, or take a es that we’re keeping as reform moves forward. more incremental approach, or simply do noth- This is no longer a problem we can wait to ing. But this is the kind of criticism we heard fix; this is about who we are as a country. Health when the country tried to pass Medicare, a pro- care reform is about every family’s health, but gram that is now providing quality care to gen- it’s also about the health of the economy. So I erations of American seniors. It’s the kind of just want to put everybody on notice, because criticism we heard when we tried to pass the there was a lot of chatter during the week that I Children’s Health Insurance Program, which was gone: We are going to get this done; inac- has provided quality care and coverage to mil- tion is not an option. And for those naysayers lions of kids. It’s the same Washington thinking and cynics who think that this is not going to that has ignored big challenges and put off happen, don’t bet against us. We are going to tough decisions for decades. And it is precisely make this thing happen because the American that kind of small thinking that has led us into people desperately need it. the current predicament. And even those who are satisfied with their So make no mistake: The status quo on health care right now, they understand that if health care is no longer an option for the Unit- premiums keep on doubling and if employers ed States of America. If we step back from this keep on shedding health insurance because it’s challenge right now, we will leave our children unsustainable and if you look at the trajectory of a legacy of debt, a future of crushing costs that where Medicare and Medicaid are going, then bankrupt our families, our businesses, and be- inaction will create the biggest crisis of all. cause we will have done nothing to bring down And so I understand people are a little ner- the costs of Medicare and Medicaid, will crush vous and a little scared about making change. 1095 July 13 / Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 The muscles in this town to bring about big doctors and hospitals are hard to come by. And changes are a little atrophied, but we’re whip- that’s why, even though she could have left the ping folks back into shape. We are going to get State to make more money as a specialist or as this done. And if there’s anyone who under- a doctor in a wealthier community, Regina stands the urgency of meeting this challenge Benjamin returned to Alabama and opened a in a personal and powerful way, it’s the woman small clinic in Bayou La Batre. who will become our Nation’s next Surgeon When people couldn’t pay, she didn’t General, Dr. Regina Benjamin. charge them. When the clinic wasn’t making Now, the list of qualifications that make Dr. money, she didn’t take a salary for herself. Benjamin an outstanding candidate to be When Hurricane Georges destroyed the clinic America’s leading spokesperson on issues of in 1998, she made house calls to all her pa- public health are long indeed. She was in the tients while it was rebuilt. When Hurricane second class at Morehouse School of Medicine Katrina destroyed it again and left most of her and went on to earn an M.D. from the Univer- town homeless, she mortgaged her house and sity of Alabama at Birmingham and an MBA maxed out her credit cards to rebuild that clin- from Tulane. She served as Associate Dean for ic for a second time. She tended to those who Rural Health at the University of South Ala- had been wounded in the storm, and when bama College of Medicine. And in 1995, she folks needed medicine, she asked the pharma- became the first physician under 40 and the cist to send the bill her way. first African American woman to be named to And when Regina’s clinic was about to open the American Medical Association’s Board of for the third time a—and a fire burned it to Trustees. In 2002, she became president of Al- the ground before it could serve the first pa- abama’s State Medical Association. And she tient, well, you can guess what Dr. Benjamin has received numerous awards and recogni- did. With help from her community, she is re- tions, including the MacArthur Genius Award. building it again. One disabled patient brought It’s very impressive. [Laughter] her an envelope with $20 inside. Another el- But of all these achievements and experi- derly man said simply, “Maybe I can help. I ence, none has been more pertinent to today’s got a hammer.” challenges or closer to Regina’s heart than the For nearly two decades, Dr. Regina Benja- rural health clinic that she has built and rebuilt min has seen in a very personal way what is in Bayou La Batre—did I say that right? broken about our health care system. She’s Surgeon General-Designate Benjamin. Close. seen an increasing number of patients who’ve The President. Well, tell me how to say it. had health insurance their entire lives sudden- Surgeon General-Designate Benjamin. Bay- ly lose it because they lost their jobs or be- ou La Batre. cause it’s simply become too expensive. She’s The President. Bayou La Batre. That’s in Al- been a relentless promoter of prevention and abama, people. [Laughter] wellness programs, having treated too many Bayou La Batre is a rural town of about costly and—diseases and complications that 2,500 people. It’s a shrimping town, where a didn’t have to happen. And she’s witnessed the lot of folks work for themselves, scrape by, and shortage of primary care physicians in the ru- can’t usually afford health insurance. And by ral and underserved areas where she works. the way, Dr. Benjamin, while we were talking But for all that she’s seen and all the tre- in the Oval Office, described for me the demo- mendous obstacles that she has overcome, Re- graphics of this town are actually very interest- gina Benjamin also represents what’s best ing, because you’ve got Whites, Blacks, and about health care in America: doctors and Asians in this community. There are a lot of nurses who give and care and sacrifice for the Laotians and Cambodians who have moved sake of their patients; those Americans who there and are part of this shrimping town, so would do anything to heal a fellow citizen. it’s a diverse but very poor rural community. Through floods and fires and severe want, Re- And like so many other rural communities, gina Benjamin has refused to give up; her 1096 Administration of Barack Obama, 2009 / July 13 patients have refused to give up. And when we [At this point, Surgeon General-designate Ben- were talking in the Oval Office, she said: “The jamin made brief remarks, concluding as fol- one thing I want to do is make sure that this lows.] Surgeon General’s Office gives voice to patients, that patients have a seat at the table; Surgeon General-Designate Benjamin.

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