Washington, March 04: President Barack Obama made what is expected to be his final push to overhaul the U.S. health care system, revising his plan in an attempt to win the support of moderate Democrats.
Mr. Obama’s latest proposal included some ideas favoured by Republicans, though he has little hope of winning over even a single Republican lawmaker. Republicans have called on him to discard his proposals and start working with them on a new one.
But the White House hopes that by including elements of Republican plans, Mr. Obama can win over Democratic lawmakers from conservative districts whose re-election hopes in November could be jeopardized by voting for the bill. If he can generate stronger Democratic support, congressional leaders can use parliamentary manoeuvres to bypass Republican objections.
Appearing Wednesday before a White House audience of invited guests, many of them wearing white medical coats, Mr. Obama firmly rejected calls from Republicans to draft new legislation from scratch.
“I don’t see how another year of negotiations would help. Moreover, the insurance companies aren’t starting over,” the president said, referring to a recent round of announced premium increases affecting millions who purchase individual coverage.
“For us to start over now could simply lead to delay that could last for another decade or more,” the president said.
Mr. Obama’s appeal came several days after he convened a televised bipartisan summit with lawmakers, then released a revised plan that he said incorporated several Republican suggestions.
At its core, Mr. Obama’s proposal would extend health care to tens of millions of uninsured Americans, while cracking down on insurance company practices such as denying coverage on the basis of a pre—existing medical condition. The United States is the only major industrialized country without universal health care.
The health care legislation that appeared on the cusp of passage late last year, only to be derailed when Republicans won a Massachusetts Senate seat that gave them the ability to stop it.
The president endorsed a plan by Democrats to try to enact the legislation by a simple majority vote {mdash} using a Senate procedure that would deny Republicans the right to delaying tactics, known as filibusters, meant to stall legislation. Democrats still hold a majority in the 100-seat Senate, but they are now one seat shy of the 60 needed to stop filibusters.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell that a decision by Democrats to invoke the simple majority rules would be “met with outrage” by voters, and he said Mr. Obama was pushing a sweeping bill that the public doesn’t want.
“They’ve had enough of this yearlong effort to get a win for the Democratic Party at any price to the American people,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.
The Democrats’ strategy includes several steps. The House of Representatives would be required to pass the legislation the Senate passed late last year, and then both chambers would be called on to enact a companion bill making changes in the first one.
While Mr. Obama said he wanted action within a few weeks, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, seemed to hint a final outcome could take far longer. “We remain committed to this effort and we’ll use every option available to deliver meaningful reform this year,” he said.
Mr. Obama has already made the basics of his plan clear. He would extend health coverage to about 30 million uninsured Americans, leash the insurance industry by banning practices like denying coverage for the ill, expand drug benefits for the elderly and give lower-income people subsidies to help them afford coverage. It would be paid for by raising taxes on upper-income Americans and culling savings from a government health care plan for the elderly.
Next week, Mr. Obama is to travel to the states of Pennsylvania and Missouri to campaign for the legislation.
——Agencies