Obama: 'The place where change began'

President Barack Obama says it's time to look forward to the benefits the new health care reform law will bring and he's ready to defend it against attacks.

In a 30-minute address at the University of Iowa's Field House on Thursday, he issued a direct challenge to critics of the new law, daring Republicans to run against it in elections this fall.

“If they want to have that fight, we can have it,” Obama said. “Because I don't believe the American people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver's seat.”

It was Obama's first speech since signing the landmark legislation Tuesday. It also marked his return to the UI campus, where three years ago, as a presidential hopeful, he unveiled his plan for health care reform.

The president touted the short-term and long-term effects of the law to a capacity crowd of 3,000 people. His visit was generally seen as the start of an attempt to sell the law to an American public not as widely enthusiastic of it as the audience that greeted Obama on Thursday.

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Read a transcript of Obama's speech

Video of protesters in Iowa City

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Obama addressed the skeptics, saying it is not a government takeover of health care, as some critics have said.

“They will see that if Americans like their doctor, they will keep their doctor. If you like your plan, you will keep your plan,” he said. “No one will be able to take that away from you.”

This year, small businesses will qualify for tax credits to help cover their employees' health insurance, people can no longer have their coverage dropped because they get sick and students can stay on their parent's insurance until they are 26 years old, Obama said.

Within a few years, health insurance exchanges will be created through which uninsured people and small businesses can purchase affordable, quality insurance, he said.

When mentioning the tax credits, Obama said they would help small businesses like Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City, calling the provision “pro-jobs” and “pro-business.” The president later stopped at the bookstore.

Opponents, however, say the law is too expensive and is a government intrusion into health care.

Protesters gathered near the Field House hours before the president's arrival. A couple of people heckled Obama during his speech.

Matt Strawn, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, held a morning news conference by phone and criticized Obama for the cost of the plan, estimated at $938 billion over 10 years.

“I think President Obama will find that Iowans have a lot of concerns right now with where he wants to take this country,” he said.

Still, in coming to Iowa City, the White House chose what is mostly friendly territory and returned to a site that helped boost Obama's presidential bid with a caucus victory two years ago.

“This is the state that inspired us to keep going, even when the path was uncertain,” Obama said. “We were out of the polls. And because of you, this is the place where change began.”

The new law is not entirely the same as what Obama initially proposed. Three years ago he opposed requiring adults to have health insurance, but the new law has a mandate. Obama also wanted a public plan, a controversial measure that was eventually dropped from the bill.

Watch the speech

Photos by Brian Ray

Photos by Gazette/KCRG staff

Photos from the Associated Press

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