Health law among Obama's accomplishments as he makes case for second term

During the final night of the Democratic convention, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden pledged to protect Medicare from GOP proposals to turn it into what they called a voucher program and extolled the benefits of the health law.

Los Angeles Times: Obama, Biden Make their Case For Four More Years
Spilling well past the hour of prime-time coverage allotted by the major TV networks, Obama offered a long list of achievements including passage of his sweeping healthcare overhaul, an end to the war in Iraq, the routing of Al Qaeda and a lessening of the U.S. dependency on foreign oil. … He did not give much detail on the goals a second Obama administration would pursue, though he vowed to … defend Medicare from efforts to turn it into a voucher program and oppose any attempts to privatize Social Security (Barabak, 9/6).

Los Angeles Times: Obama States His Case For A Second Term
At times scathing in his criticism, Obama said the Medicare voucher plan endorsed by Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, would leave America's seniors "at the mercy of insurance companies" (Parsons, Hennessey and Memoli, 9/6).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: In Convention Speeches, Obama And Romney Set Up Contrasts On Key Political Issues
On Medicare - Obama: Said he would never let Medicare be turned into a program in which seniors get a voucher that they in turn use to help buy private health insurance. Said he would reform Medicare but do it by reducing the cost of health care. Romney: Focused on criticizing Obama's health care overhaul, which takes nearly $700 billion out of the program over the coming decade by lowering payments to certain providers, mainly private insurers and hospitals. Has promised to overhaul those payment cuts (9/7).

The Washington Post: Political Conventions Get Deeply Personal
From heart-rending tales of premature babies to tactfully described female disorders, the organizers of the Republican and Democratic conventions have featured deeply personal stories of health struggles that in previous years might have been more at home on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" than at the podium of a national political event. … But the testimonials had a different purpose this week in Charlotte, where Democrats assembled to formally re-nominate Obama, and to take advantage of an engaged prime-time audience to push their talking points about women and the health-care law (Somashekhar, 9/6).

Politico: Democrats' Risky Play: Own 'Obamacare'
From the podium at the national convention, Democrats keep doing what would have been unthinkable three months ago: they're taking credit for "Obamacare." Bill Clinton devoted a chunk of his nominating speech Wednesday night making the case for the law. Michelle Obama mentioned it Tuesday to paint her husband as a man of resolve. Rising star Julian Castro said Obama pulled off what seven of his predecessors could not in getting the law enacted. The unexpected convention theme is no accident. The same law that rallied the tea party in 2010 and sent Democrats running for cover, has become a better issue for them, top Democrats told POLITICO this week. The campaign believes there's been a shift in momentum since the Supreme Court upheld the law in June, Obama campaign officials said. They also think it makes for an appealing contrast to Paul Ryan's plan to overhaul Medicare and Medicaid (Raju and Kenen, 9/6).

Medpage Today: Benefits Of ACA Hammered Home At DNC Events
Democratic politicians were busy here Thursday spreading the gospel of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to anyone who would listen. Speaking at the Democratic National Convention's Seniors Council Thursday morning, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius reiterated many of the points former President Bill Clinton delivered in his keynote address to the convention Wednesday night. Sebelius, speaking to a standing-room-only crowd, talked proudly about her dad, former Ohio Democratic governor John Gilligan, who helped pass the legislation that launched Medicare and Medicaid when he served in Congress in the 1960s. Democrats have strengthened Medicare through the ACA, she said (Frieden and Pittman, 9/6).

Politico Pro: Biden Skips ACA, Hits Romney On Medicare
[Vice President Joe] Biden went on the attack on Medicare, slamming Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan for their plans to dramatically reform the program. Biden criticized them for not spelling out the benefit cuts in their proposal. "What they didn't tell you is that the plan they've already put down on paper would immediately cut benefits for more than 30 million seniors already on Medicare," Biden said. "What they didn't tell you is the plan they're proposing would cause Medicare to go bankrupt by 2016. And what they really don't want to tell you … is that they're not for preserving Medicare at all. They're for a new plan." And Biden did say that he and President Barack Obama want a future in which women's health choices are protected, a theme that has come up repeatedly in Charlotte, N.C (Haberkorn, 9/6).

Medpage Today: Obama Pledges: No Vouchers For Medicare
As it was on Tuesday and Wednesday, health care continued to be a central theme here as the Democratic Convention wrapped up on Thursday night, from the first speaker right up to President Obama. Speaking of his opponent, Obama said that Mitt Romney's approach to healthcare could be summed up this way: "since government can't do everything, it should do almost nothing. If you can't afford health insurance, hope that you don't get sick." "You know what?" he said. "That's not who we are. That's not what this country's about." Obama also pledged that he would "never turn Medicare into a voucher," referring to Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan's proposal to convert Medicare into a premium support program (Frieden, 9/6).

Meanwhile, in related news -

Bloomberg: Universal Health Care Shouldn't Be Reduced, Lancet Says
Expansion of government-subsidized medical care improves health and should be maintained in times of economic crisis, according to a survey of research. Programs such as Medicare for senior citizens and Medicaid for the poor in the U.S. and similar programs in other countries led to increased use of preventive, inpatient and outpatient services and better health status for previously uninsured populations, Peter Smith and Rodrigo Moreno-Serra of Imperial College London wrote in The Lancet medical journal today. Their paper comes as U.S. President Barack Obama's 2010 health-care overhaul faces attacks by the Republican party in an election year (Kitamura, 9/6).