Obama's New Health Pitch: Families, Businesses Would Get Benefits This Year

President Obama is keeping the pressure on Congress to pass sweeping health legislation with a new emphasis on the help it would give people and businesses as soon as it is signed. In his weekly video address Saturday, Obama also repeated his call for an "up or down" final vote to get it done.

"The proposal we've put forward would end the worst practices of the insurance industry, lower costs for millions of Americans, and give uninsured individuals and small businesses the same kind of choice of private health insurance that members of Congress get for themselves. And while it will take a few years to fully implement these reforms, there are numerous protections and benefits that would start to take effect this year," Obama said.

Among those protections and benefits: Small business owners would get tax credits to purchase health insurance; insurance companies could not drop your coverage when you got sick or deny coverage to children with pre-existing conditions; all new insurance plans would be required to offer free preventive care; young adults could stay on their parents' plans until they turn 26; seniors who fall into a Medicare coverage gap (called "the donut hole") would immediately get $250 to help them pay for prescriptions; people who feel they were unfairly denied a claim would have access to a new, independent appeals process.

"If we act now, all of this will happen this year," Obama said. "Let's show our citizens that it's still possible for Washington to look out for their interests and their future."

Democrats have their work cut out for them trying to educate the public about what's in their bill and ease public skepticism that has deepened as the process has dragged on. Obama's laundry list of immediate benefits set a template for how Democrats could sell the bill at home this year and perhaps make up some ground before the November elections.

The video address capped a week in which the president pledged to do everything he could to get this bill passed. He gave a speech strongly urging Congress to finish its work on health care, with Democratic votes alone, if need be. He also held separate meetings with liberal Democrats and centrist Democrats, each group with its own reasons to be skittish. He'll try to build support for health care on Monday in Philadelphia and on Wednesday in St. Louis. The White House wants Congress to finish work on reform this month.

Click play below to watch the address: