But even as Speaker
Nancy Pelosi hailed the agreement as a "giant step forward" on
President Barack Obama's top domestic legislation, leaders struggled without
success to ease the concerns of moderate to conservative Democrats who have
held up progress on the bill for a week. With the talks at a deadlock, a key
committee chairman suggested an end run around the rebels.
At the White House,
Obama met with senators in an attempt to speed completion of a bipartisan deal
that has been under discussion for weeks.
The flurry of activity
occurred as the administration and Democratic leaders fought back against the
impression that the legislation was sputtering despite months of effort and
negotiation.
Democratic officials
in the House said late-night talks had produced agreement on changes in
Medicare to try and reward doctors, hospitals and other providers for
high-quality care. Critics argue the current system simply pays by volume —
compensating providers regardless of whether additional medical procedures
contribute to better health care.
Under the agreement,
the
Officials said the two
steps combined were designed to control the steady increase in Medicare costs,
although they provided no immediate estimates of anticipated savings.
Obama has said
repeatedly he wants legislation to control the cost of health care as well as
to expand insurance coverage to millions who now lack it.
In another part of the
Capitol on Friday, Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., said attempts by so-called Blue Dogs
to win changes had ended in stalemate.
"It pretty much
fell apart this afternoon," he said.
The group has enough
votes on the Energy and Commerce Committee to prevent the bill's passage there,
and the chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., raised the possibility of simply
bypassing the panel and taking the legislation directly to the floor.
"We're going to
have to look at perhaps bypassing the committee because we've got to get moving
on this legislation," he said. "I hope we don't come to that
conclusion."
He said that while
negotiations with Democratic critics are continuing, "we're not going to
let them empower the Republicans to control the committee." No House
Republican has yet expressed support for the health bill that the White House
is seeking.
As lawmakers continued
to haggle, the White House said Obama will keep working on health care in
August even if Congress goes home.
"Nobody in
planning meetings decided we should just take August off," said White
House press secretary Robert Gibbs. "For a long time we planned to
continue the discussion of the issues that are important, be it the economy,
health care ... education. That had always in many ways been priced into the
scenario."
Obama envisions
legislation that would, for the first time, require all Americans to be
insured. A new government insurance program would compete with private
insurers, and insurance companies would be barred from excluding people with
preexisting conditions. The goals are to hold down costs and extend coverage
to most of the 50 million uninsured. The price tag: $1 trillion-plus over a
decade.
Obama met Friday
morning at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont. Reid said Thursday that the
panel will push to complete a bill before the Senate breaks Aug. 7. Baucus has
been negotiating with the panel's Republicans in hopes of producing a
bipartisan bill.
Associated Press Writer
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
______
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