Here are the details that every American needs to know about this plan. First, if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance, nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have.

Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition. As soon as I sign this bill, it will be against the law for insurance companies to drop your coverage when you get sick or water it down when you need it the most. They will no longer be able to place some arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime.

We will place a limit on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses, because in the United States of America, no one should go broke because they get sick. And insurance companies will be required to cover, with no extra charge, routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms and colonoscopies - (applause) - because there's no reason we shouldn't be catching diseases like breast cancer and colon cancer before they get worse.

If you lose your job or you change your job, you'll be able to get coverage. you'll be able to get coverage. We'll do this by creating a new insurance exchange - a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices.

Now, for those individuals and small businesses who still can't afford the lower-priced insurance available in the exchange, we'll provide tax credits, the size of which will be based on your need. For those Americans who can't get insurance today because they we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill.

This was a good idea when Senator John McCain proposed it in the campaign, it's a good idea now, and we should all embrace it. (applause) honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange. (applause) Let me be clear. It would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it and would also keep pressure on private insurers to keep their policies affordable and treat their customers better I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits - either now or in the future. (applause) We've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding savings within the existing health care system, a system that is currently full of waste and abuse. The only thing this plan would eliminate is the hundreds of billions of dollars in waste and fraud, as well as unwarranted subsidies in Medicare that go to insurance companies.

And we will also create an independent commission of doctors and medical experts charged with identifying more waste in the years ahead. (applause) These steps will ensure that you - America's seniors - get the benefits you've been promised. And we can use some of the savings to fill the gap in coverage that forces too many seniors to pay thousands of dollars a year out of their own pockets for prescription drugs.

Many in this chamber - particularly on the Republican side of the aisle - have long insisted that reforming our medical malpractice laws can help bring down the cost of health care. I know that the Bush administration considered authorizing demonstration projects in individual states to test these ideas. I think it's a good idea, and I'm directing my Secretary of Health and Human Services to move forward on this initiative today. The time for bickering is over. (applause) The time for games has passed. (applause) Now is the season for action. Now is when we must bring the best ideas of both parties together, and show the American people that we can still do what we were sent here to do. Now is the time to deliver on health care.