Washington, July 14: Moving forcefully on his top domestic priority, President Barack Obama told a powerful Senate chairman on Monday that he wants health care legislation ready in the Finance Committee by week’s end, according to numerous Democratic officials.
These officials said Obama made his wishes known directly to Sen Max Baucus, D-Mont., at a White House meeting attended by administration officials and senior Democratic lawmakers.
It was not immediately clear whether Obama expressed a preference for a bipartisan measure — which Baucus has been laboring over for months — or a bill tailored more to Democratic specifications.
Still, the virtual deadline underscored Obama’s determination to push initial legislation through both houses of Congress before lawmakers leave the Capitol in August for a vacation.
“Don’t bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen,” the President told reporters earlier in the day, fresh from an overseas trip that coincided with slippage in momentum for his top domestic priority.
The officials who described the private meeting did soon condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorised to discuss private meetings.
Scott Mulhauser, a spokesman for Baucus, said the senior Democrat “has stressed the Finance Committee will be ready when it has a mark (proposal) that can ensure quality, affordable care for every American, lower costs — and pass the Senate.”
Despite objections from conservative and moderate Democrats, prospects for House action along the President’s timetable are better than in the Senate.
There, majority Democrats are readying legislation, to be introduced as early as Tuesday, that would prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage or charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.
The measure would spend billions of dollars subsidising lower income individuals and families who cannot afford coverage, in an attempt to cut dramatically into the ranks of the uninsured.
–Agencies