http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAF49A6OPD.htmlBush to Urge Health Care Improvements, Asks Public to Stay the Course in Anti-Terror Fight
By Scott Lindlaw
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - <snip>Bush will open with remarks on national security, then move into domestic priorities, contrary to past practice, the aides said. He will urge Americans to back him on combating terrorism, arguing that the path he has chosen is the right one: using war to confront Iraq, diplomacy to urge North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, persuasion to convince Libya to give up its illicit weapons.
Bush will propose steps to rein in the rising costs of health care, administration officials said. They include offering tax incentives to make high-deductible, low-premium policies more attractive, and to bring more people into the insurance system; offering health savings accounts, which allow workers to place money into accounts tax-free and withdraw it with no tax penalty for medical expenses; passing Bush's medical-malpractice award caps; and allowing businesses to pool their resources to get workers coverage. Bush will also call for a more aggressive use of medical technology to reduce the number of medical mistakes, which drive up health care costs. <snip>
The administration seeks to attack the costs of health care, rather than pouring billions of dollars in government money into bringing more people onto the rolls, White House officials said. The measures, taken together, could bring millions of uninsured people into the health care system.
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The second half of Bush's speech will focus on domestic priorities, with a special emphasis on the economy, which has rebounded strongly since the president declared the end of major combat operations in Iraq in May. Bush will seek to convince Americans that his series of tax cuts has turned the economy around, and that he is now turning his attention to job creation, aides said.
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Bush will call for new job-training grants channeled through community colleges to help prepare American workers for a changing economy. Democrats said they were determined to make sure the president does not get too much credit; he has cut vocational education and an array of job-training programs in recent years, they said. <snip>
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