Amid persistent partisan tensions, media reports are casting the current White House efforts to revive the President's healthcare reform drive as possibly the last chance for the legislation to pass this year. The CBS Evening News (2/21, lead story, 2:20, Reid) reported in its lead story, "The President has said again and again that jobs will be at the top of his agenda this year -- but not this week, when his focus will return to the politically explosive issue of healthcare reform." Obama "has invited House and Senate leaders from both parties to Thursday's healthcare summit. It's expected to last at least six hours, and will be televised live." The AP (2/22) reports that "the White House was expected to post a version of...Obama's plan...on its website on Monday, ahead of his critical and daring summit" with Republicans "at Blair House on Thursday." The White House plan is expected to hew "close to a stalled Senate bill," requiring "most Americans to carry health insurance coverage, with federal subsidies to help many afford the premiums. ... The expected price tag is around $1 trillion over 10 years."
The Washington Post (2/22, Shear, Balz) reports that "senior aides to...Obama said the document will propose changes to the healthcare legislation that passed in the Senate late last year, including lower taxes on expensive insurance plans, and higher subsidies for working families to get health coverage. The changes could add up to $200 billion to the Senate bill's $871 billion price tag."
In a front-page story, the New York Times (2/22, A1, Herszenhorn, Pear) reports that the President's plan would also give "the federal government new power to block excessive rate increases by health insurance companies."
The Los Angeles Times (2/22, Parson) notes that the proposal "would give the Health and Human Services secretary power to block premium increases that were deemed excessive," while setting up "a panel of experts charged with evaluating the healthcare market each year, and determining what would constitute a reasonable rate increase. The board's members would include consumers, doctors, economists, and insurers."
Sebelius Says Obama's Health Plan Will Include Greater Oversight Of Insurers. Bloomberg News (2/20, Gaouette, Rowley) reported that, in an interview on Bloomberg Television, HHS Secretary Sebelius said that President Obama's "healthcare proposal will include new rules for insurance companies and greater oversight on the industry." She said, "More oversight, more transparency, and new rules for health insurers are going to be part of health reform." Sebelius also "mentioned medical loss ratios, which mandate how much insurers have to spend on health benefits as opposed to administrative costs."
WPost Says Obama Must Back Excise Tax, Medicare Panel. The Washington Post (2/21), in an editorial, contended that the President's plan must include "an independent commission empowered to recommend changes to Medicare, subject to an up-or-down congressional vote, and an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans." According to the Post, "Without mechanisms such as the excise tax to discipline costs, premiums will continue to rise even if healthcare reform passes," and the White House "has to make that case."
