The Washington Post (2/25, Pershing, Bacon) reports that in "one of two legislative victories that showcased a new Democratic strategy of winning Republican support by advancing popular measures" on Wednesday, the House passed a measure 406-19 "aimed at repealing the health-insurance industry's decades-old antitrust exemption." The second victory the Post notes is the approval of a $15 billion jobs bill in the Senate.
Focusing on the "overwhelming" approval of the antitrust bill, CNN (2/25) reports that "liberal Democrats have said a repeal would help inject competition into the healthcare industry while reducing consumer costs." The 19 votes against were Republican. The Hill's Blog Briefing Room also reported that the bill passed "overwhelmingly."
CQ Today noted that "Democratic aides said the bill faces a possible filibuster threat in the Senate, although Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada supported similar legislation last year."
The Politico (2/24) "Live Pulse" blog called the vote "a rare bipartisan achievement," reporting that "the measure was the first installment of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's dual-track strategy for passing smaller healthcare measures ahead of the Democrats' more sweeping bill. If party leaders fail to approve their bigger bill, Pelosi could revive this small-ball approach to make many of the changes they're seeking in the historic healthcare package." Reuters (2/25, Bartz) and CongressDaily also cover the story.
House Committee Grills WellPoint Executives On Rate Increases. The day before President Obama's bipartisan meeting on healthcare reform, WellPoint executives testified in front of the House Energy and Commerce Committee about recent rate increases. ABC World News (2/24, story 2, 2:50, Sawyer) reported that on Wednesday, "executives of the company that insures the most Americans had to answer for big bonuses and lavish retreats while socking clients with a double-digit increase in fees." ABC added that lawmakers attacked WellPoint earnings, as "the company's profits were $4.7 billion, in part because it sold a subsidiary. In each of the last five years, WellPoint's profits have exceeded $2 billion. The company says its profit margin, about 5%, is reasonable."
NBC Nightly News (2/24, story 3, 2:25, Williams) noted that "Congress demanded an explanation from the insurance giant WellPoint, whose subsidiary levied the big increases on hundreds of thousands of individual policy holders in California, and is reported to have proposed double-digit rate hikes in 11 states." Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) said, "A 39% rate increase at a time when people, Americans, are losing their jobs is so incredibly audacious."
According to the Los Angeles Times (2/25, Simon, Helfand), "Lawmakers, citing internal documents from WellPoint, Inc., said the company had sought to inflate individual policyholders' premiums to counteract anticipated concessions to state regulators."
The New York Times (2/25, Pear) reports that WellPoint president Angela F. Braly told the committee "that higher premiums were justified by soaring medical costs, and warned that pending legislation could make the problem worse, further driving up costs for young, healthy people." According to the Times, "the hearing comes amid growing criticism of WellPoint and the health insurance industry by President Obama and Democrats in Congress, who say the proposed rate increases show the need for federal review and regulation of insurance premiums."
The Wall Street Journal, the AP (2/25), McClatchy (2/25, Hotakainen), and Bloomberg News (2/25, Nussbaum, Gaouette) also cover the story.
Media reports hold out little hope for a bipartisan deal emerging from Thursday's White House healthcare summit. Instead, the gathering is being cast as a chance for the President to unify Democratic lawmakers behind his reform proposal, setting the stage for a push for Congressional approval with Democratic votes only. As the CBS Evening News (2/24, story 5, 1:40, Cordes) reported, "the White House is less focused on this point at winning over the Republicans," and "more...on winning over wavering Democrats who will all have to hang together...if they're finally going to pass a healthcare bill." The Washington Post (2/25, A1, Murray, Montgomery) also reports on its front page that "Democrats are already looking beyond the White House healthcare summit, reckoning that Thursday's session will amount to little more than political theater and focusing instead on a final round of intraparty negotiations that are likely to determine the fate of President Obama's top domestic priority. "
The AP (2/25, Werner, Fram) says that Obama and Democratic leaders "are prepared to try for a far-reaching bill in the coming weeks without a single Republican vote." But "it's far from clear they can gather the votes, however, and it will take a major effort to unite fractious Democrats." Party "leaders say they hope to persuade House Democrats to swallow their objections and approve a health bill the Senate passed on Christmas Eve. In return, Senate Democrats would have to agree to make various changes to healthcare laws under budget reconciliation rules, which bar GOP delaying tactics."
Republicans, Politico (2/25, Smith) notes, "are the least" Obama's concerns at the summit. Rather, his "most important will be his pitch to a handful of conservative Democrats in the House who will have to switch their votes and vote for the Senate healthcare bill for it to pass into law." The AP (2/25, Alonso-Zaldivar) similarly reports that Obama hopes "he can fire up anxious Democrats for what may be their last chance in a generation to provide health insurance coverage to nearly all Americans." The AP asks, "They have the votes, but do they have the will?"
The Los Angeles Times (2/25, Nicholas) reports that the summit contains "undeniable elements of theater," but "carries major implications that could change the political landscape," and "alter the outcome of the healthcare debate but also November's midterm elections."
Poll: Public Opposes Obama Plan 49%-43%, And Reconciliation 52%-39%. USA Today (2/25, Page) reports that a USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that "77%, say their 'best guess' is that...Obama and congressional Democratic and Republican leaders will leave the six-hour session at Blair House empty-handed. Just one in five, 22%, predict they'll reach a deal." Meanwhile, "by 49%-43%, those surveyed oppose passage of a bill like that Democrats have drafted. ... While that divide was relatively narrow, opponents feel more intensely about it than supporters do: 23% 'strongly oppose' such a bill while 11% 'strongly favor' it." On reconciliation, the poll finds "Americans are opposed 52%-39% to using that device to get a bill through."
