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Obama Backs Senate on Two Disparities in Health Bills
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Nov 25, 2009 08:05pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - New York Times |
| News Date | Thursday, November 26, 2009 02:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: November 25, 2009
WASHINGTON — Two of President Obama’s senior health care advisers said Wednesday that a proposed tax on high-cost insurance plans and a new commission to control Medicare spending were among “four pillars” essential to major health care legislation.
Their remarks firmly aligned the White House with the Senate on two major disagreements facing Democratic Congressional leaders trying to pass a bill.
The health care legislation that the House adopted on Nov. 7 did not include the excise tax on the so-called Cadillac insurance plans. But the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, included the levy in the bill that the Senate will begin debating in earnest next week, and many health economists say it is vital to slowing long-term costs.
The House legislation also did not include the proposed Medicare commission, a central component of the Senate measure.
The White House and Democratic lawmakers have been under pressure in recent weeks over the issue of whether the legislation moving through Congress does enough to contain health care costs. Republican critics, and even some Democrats, have said the legislation does not go far enough to slow medical spending.
In a conference call with reporters Wednesday to highlight cost-containment provisions, the two senior presidential advisers, Peter R. Orszag, White House budget director, and Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of health reform, cited a letter to Mr. Obama by a group of respected economists who strongly endorsed the Medicare commission and the tax on high-priced plans. |
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