Reuters is reporting that Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, Goodrich Corp and Ingersoll-Rand Plc on Wednesday joined a growing list of companies that plan to book charges related to U.S. healthcare reform.
The federal government pays subsidies to large companies, including AT&T Inc, Caterpillar Inc and Deere & Co, to help pay for prescription drug benefits for retirees.
The U.S. healthcare overhaul signed into law last week by President Barack Obama would eliminate tax deductions that have been available to companies that provide such benefits.
Some corporate leaders have complained that the change amounts to a tax increase. White House officials have countered that it essentially closes a tax loophole.
Although the change does not take effect until 2013, accounting rules require that the charges be recorded in the period the legislation was enacted.
On Wednesday, the list of corporations expecting to take charges related to healthcare reform grew.
Lockheed Martin, the world's largest defense contractor, said it expected to record a $96 million, or about 25 cents a share, after-tax charge in the first quarter.
Boeing said it would take a charge of around $150 million, or 20 cents per share, against first-quarter results.
Aircraft parts supplier Goodrich expected the charge to be about $10 million, or 8 cents per share, in the first quarter, while air compressor and cooling systems maker Ingersoll-Rand forecast a charge of $41 million, or 12 cents per share.
Conversely, General Electric Co has said that it does not expect health care reform to have a "significant material impact" on its results.
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts
Monday, April 5, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Coverage Now for Sick Children?
WASHINGTON — Just days after President Obama signed the new health care law, insurance companies are already arguing that, at least for now, they do not have to provide one of the benefits that the president calls a centerpiece of the law: coverage for certain children with pre-existing conditions.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV criticized insurance companies that say they do not yet have to cover pre-existing conditions.
A blog from The New York Times that tracks the health care debate as it unfolds.
How the Health Care Overhaul Could Affect You
Mr. Obama, speaking at a health care rally in northern Virginia on March 19, said, “Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.”
The authors of the law say they meant to ban all forms of discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, birth defects, orthopedic problems, leukemia, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease. The goal, they say, was to provide those youngsters with access to insurance and to a full range of benefits once they are in a health plan.
To insurance companies, the language of the law is not so clear.
Insurers agree that if they provide insurance for a child, they must cover pre-existing conditions. But, they say, the law does not require them to write insurance for the child and it does not guarantee the “availability of coverage” for all until 2014.
William G. Schiffbauer, a lawyer whose clients include employers and insurance companies, said: “The fine print differs from the larger political message. If a company sells insurance, it will have to cover pre-existing conditions for children covered by the policy. But it does not have to sell to somebody with a pre-existing condition. And the insurer could increase premiums to cover the additional cost.”
Congressional Democrats were furious when they learned that some insurers disagreed with their interpretation of the law.
“The concept that insurance companies would even seek to deny children coverage exemplifies why we fought for this reform,” said Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia and chairman of the Senate commerce committee, said: “The ink has not yet dried on the health care reform bill, and already some deplorable health insurance companies are trying to duck away from covering children with pre-existing conditions. This is outrageous.”
The issue is one of many that federal officials are tackling as they prepare to carry out the law, with a huge stream of new rules, official guidance and brochures to educate the public. Their decisions will have major practical implications.
Insurers say they often limit coverage of pre-existing conditions under policies sold in the individual insurance market. Thus, for example, an insurer might cover a family of four, including a child with a heart defect, but exclude treatment of that condition from the policy.
The new law says that health plans and insurers offering individual or group coverage “may not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion with respect to such plan or coverage” for children under 19, starting in “plan years” that begin on or after Sept. 23, 2010.
But, insurers say, until 2014, the law does not require them to write insurance at all for the child or the family. In the language of insurance, the law does not include a “guaranteed issue” requirement before then.
Consumer advocates worry that instead of refusing to cover treatment for a specific pre-existing condition, an insurer might simply deny coverage for the child or the family.
“If you have a sick kid, the individual insurance market will continue to be a scary place,” said Karen L. Pollitz, a research professor at the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University.
Experts at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners share that concern.
“I would like to see the kids covered,” said Sandy Praeger, the insurance commissioner of Kansas. “But without guaranteed issue of insurance, I am not sure companies will be required to take children under 19.”
A White House spokesman said the administration planned to issue regulations setting forth its view that “the term ‘pre-existing’ applies to both a child’s access to a plan and his or her benefits once he or she is in a plan.” But lawyers said the rules could be challenged in court if they went beyond the law or were inconsistent with it.
Starting in January 2014, health plans will be required to accept everyone who applies for coverage.
Until then, people with pre-existing conditions could seek coverage in high-risk insurance pools run by states or by the secretary of health and human services. The new law provides $5 billion to help pay claims filed by people in those pools.
Federal officials will need to write rules or guidance to address a number of concerns. The issues to be resolved include defining the “essential health benefits” that must be offered by all insurers; deciding which dependents are entitled to stay on their parents’ insurance; determining who qualifies for a “hardship exemption” from the requirement to have insurance; and deciding who is eligible for a new long-term care insurance program.
As originally conceived, most of the new federal requirements would have taken effect at the same time, in three or four years. The requirements for people to carry insurance, for employers to offer it and for insurers to accept all applicants were tied together.
But as criticism of their proposal grew, Democrats wanted to show that the legislation would produce immediate, tangible benefits. So they accelerated the ban on “pre-existing condition exclusions” for children.
Consumers will soon gain several other protections. By July 1, the health secretary must establish a Web site where people can identify “affordable health insurance coverage options.” The site is supposed to provide information about premiums, co-payments and the share of premium revenue that goes to administrative costs and profits, rather than medical care.
In addition, within six months, health plans must have “an effective appeals process,” so consumers can challenge decisions on coverage and claims.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV criticized insurance companies that say they do not yet have to cover pre-existing conditions.
A blog from The New York Times that tracks the health care debate as it unfolds.
How the Health Care Overhaul Could Affect You
Mr. Obama, speaking at a health care rally in northern Virginia on March 19, said, “Starting this year, insurance companies will be banned forever from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.”
The authors of the law say they meant to ban all forms of discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions like asthma, diabetes, birth defects, orthopedic problems, leukemia, cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease. The goal, they say, was to provide those youngsters with access to insurance and to a full range of benefits once they are in a health plan.
To insurance companies, the language of the law is not so clear.
Insurers agree that if they provide insurance for a child, they must cover pre-existing conditions. But, they say, the law does not require them to write insurance for the child and it does not guarantee the “availability of coverage” for all until 2014.
William G. Schiffbauer, a lawyer whose clients include employers and insurance companies, said: “The fine print differs from the larger political message. If a company sells insurance, it will have to cover pre-existing conditions for children covered by the policy. But it does not have to sell to somebody with a pre-existing condition. And the insurer could increase premiums to cover the additional cost.”
Congressional Democrats were furious when they learned that some insurers disagreed with their interpretation of the law.
“The concept that insurance companies would even seek to deny children coverage exemplifies why we fought for this reform,” said Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia and chairman of the Senate commerce committee, said: “The ink has not yet dried on the health care reform bill, and already some deplorable health insurance companies are trying to duck away from covering children with pre-existing conditions. This is outrageous.”
The issue is one of many that federal officials are tackling as they prepare to carry out the law, with a huge stream of new rules, official guidance and brochures to educate the public. Their decisions will have major practical implications.
Insurers say they often limit coverage of pre-existing conditions under policies sold in the individual insurance market. Thus, for example, an insurer might cover a family of four, including a child with a heart defect, but exclude treatment of that condition from the policy.
The new law says that health plans and insurers offering individual or group coverage “may not impose any pre-existing condition exclusion with respect to such plan or coverage” for children under 19, starting in “plan years” that begin on or after Sept. 23, 2010.
But, insurers say, until 2014, the law does not require them to write insurance at all for the child or the family. In the language of insurance, the law does not include a “guaranteed issue” requirement before then.
Consumer advocates worry that instead of refusing to cover treatment for a specific pre-existing condition, an insurer might simply deny coverage for the child or the family.
“If you have a sick kid, the individual insurance market will continue to be a scary place,” said Karen L. Pollitz, a research professor at the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University.
Experts at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners share that concern.
“I would like to see the kids covered,” said Sandy Praeger, the insurance commissioner of Kansas. “But without guaranteed issue of insurance, I am not sure companies will be required to take children under 19.”
A White House spokesman said the administration planned to issue regulations setting forth its view that “the term ‘pre-existing’ applies to both a child’s access to a plan and his or her benefits once he or she is in a plan.” But lawyers said the rules could be challenged in court if they went beyond the law or were inconsistent with it.
Starting in January 2014, health plans will be required to accept everyone who applies for coverage.
Until then, people with pre-existing conditions could seek coverage in high-risk insurance pools run by states or by the secretary of health and human services. The new law provides $5 billion to help pay claims filed by people in those pools.
Federal officials will need to write rules or guidance to address a number of concerns. The issues to be resolved include defining the “essential health benefits” that must be offered by all insurers; deciding which dependents are entitled to stay on their parents’ insurance; determining who qualifies for a “hardship exemption” from the requirement to have insurance; and deciding who is eligible for a new long-term care insurance program.
As originally conceived, most of the new federal requirements would have taken effect at the same time, in three or four years. The requirements for people to carry insurance, for employers to offer it and for insurers to accept all applicants were tied together.
But as criticism of their proposal grew, Democrats wanted to show that the legislation would produce immediate, tangible benefits. So they accelerated the ban on “pre-existing condition exclusions” for children.
Consumers will soon gain several other protections. By July 1, the health secretary must establish a Web site where people can identify “affordable health insurance coverage options.” The site is supposed to provide information about premiums, co-payments and the share of premium revenue that goes to administrative costs and profits, rather than medical care.
In addition, within six months, health plans must have “an effective appeals process,” so consumers can challenge decisions on coverage and claims.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Obama Targets Insurers, Sells Reform Plan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama launched a sharp attack on health insurers on Monday and called on his fellow Democrats to rise above politics and pass a healthcare overhaul in the next few weeks.
Hitting the road to rally support in the final push for healthcare reform, Obama used a campaign-style speech to urge Democrats to approve a bill and quickly end the political wrangling that has consumed Washington since July.
"There have been plenty of folks in Washington who have said that the politics is just too hard. They've argued now is not the time for reform," Obama said at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
"My question to them is: When is the right time? If not now, when?" he asked, shrugging off warnings of a political backlash in November for Democrats who back the overhaul.
"I don't know how passing healthcare will play politically, but I do know that it's the right thing to do," he said.
Obama also offered his toughest criticism yet of a health insurance industry that he said placed profits ahead of patients. "Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher," Obama said "They will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it."
Turning up the heat, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to top companies such as Aetna Inc and Wellpoint Inc asking them to justify rate increases by making public information about costs, enrollment changes and other details.
"It's time for these insurance company CEOs to do their part to make the system more transparent for the American people," Sebelius said. "If insurance companies are going to raise rates, the least they can do is tell us why."
The Obama administration has targeted health insurers in its final push for an overhaul designed to rein in costs, regulate insurers and expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
Obama said failure to pass a healthcare overhaul this year would leave intact a broken $2.5 trillion healthcare system that is ravaged by greedy health insurers.
INSURERS MAKE 'A CALCULATION'
"These insurance companies have made a calculation," Obama said "They're OK with people being priced out of health insurance because they'll still make more by raising premiums on the customers they keep.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote by the end of March on the Senate's version of the healthcare bill, with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi searching for the 216 votes to pass it. The House approved its version with only three votes to spare in November.
Republican leaders say they will make healthcare reform a top issue in November's elections and urged Republican candidates to focus on the Democratic-crafted bills, which polls show are unpopular with the public.
"A vote for this bill opens an entirely new line of attack on House Democrats," Johnny Destefano, a House Republican campaign committee official, said in a memo to Republican House candidates.
"Now is the time to apply pressure and force your opponents into taking a stand on whether they will walk Speaker Pelosi's plank by supporting her last-ditch healthcare push," he said.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said the new push on healthcare would be a replay of the frantic maneuvering that marked Senate passage just before Christmas.
"Americans don't like this bill any more today than they did three months ago," he said.
But in Pennsylvania, Obama sought the public's help in rallying Congress to pass the overhaul. "It's time to make a decision," Obama said. "The time for talk is over."
The overhaul looked dead in January when Republicans deprived Democrats of their crucial 60th Senate vote by winning a Massachusetts special election, stopping negotiations to merge bills already passed by the House and Senate.
But changes to the Senate bill sought by Obama and House Democrats will be considered separately using a procedure that allows a majority vote in the 100-member Senate rather than the 60 votes needed to clear Republican procedural hurdles.
Obama proposed revisions to the Senate bill last week to ease the concerns of House Democrats, including watering down a tax on expensive insurance plans and boosting federal subsidies to make coverage more affordable.
"I think there's a lot more determination in the Congress now to get it passed," Democratic Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania told reporters after Obama's speech.
"I really think there's sort of reaction on the Democratic side of getting a little angry over the duration and intensity of obstruction and a lot more determination to see it through."
In her letter to insurers, Sebelius asked executives to post on their websites the justification for any individual or small group rate increases they implemented or proposed in 2010, and continue to do so in the future.
The heads of Cigna Corp, UnitedHealth Group Inc and privately held Health Care Service Corp also received the letter.
Health insurer shares were down for the day. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor index was down about 0.4 percent and the S&P Managed Health Care index was off 1 percent.
The CEO of Manpower, a global employment services company that provides temporary workers, said the uncertainty of the healthcare debate in Washington was keeping U.S. employers from hiring.
"The concern is that we have a political system that is too broken to fix systemic issues," CEO Jeff Joerres told Reuters.
Hitting the road to rally support in the final push for healthcare reform, Obama used a campaign-style speech to urge Democrats to approve a bill and quickly end the political wrangling that has consumed Washington since July.
"There have been plenty of folks in Washington who have said that the politics is just too hard. They've argued now is not the time for reform," Obama said at Arcadia University in Glenside, Pennsylvania.
"My question to them is: When is the right time? If not now, when?" he asked, shrugging off warnings of a political backlash in November for Democrats who back the overhaul.
"I don't know how passing healthcare will play politically, but I do know that it's the right thing to do," he said.
Obama also offered his toughest criticism yet of a health insurance industry that he said placed profits ahead of patients. "Every year, they raise premiums higher and higher," Obama said "They will keep doing this for as long as they can get away with it."
Turning up the heat, Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to top companies such as Aetna Inc and Wellpoint Inc asking them to justify rate increases by making public information about costs, enrollment changes and other details.
"It's time for these insurance company CEOs to do their part to make the system more transparent for the American people," Sebelius said. "If insurance companies are going to raise rates, the least they can do is tell us why."
The Obama administration has targeted health insurers in its final push for an overhaul designed to rein in costs, regulate insurers and expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
Obama said failure to pass a healthcare overhaul this year would leave intact a broken $2.5 trillion healthcare system that is ravaged by greedy health insurers.
INSURERS MAKE 'A CALCULATION'
"These insurance companies have made a calculation," Obama said "They're OK with people being priced out of health insurance because they'll still make more by raising premiums on the customers they keep.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote by the end of March on the Senate's version of the healthcare bill, with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi searching for the 216 votes to pass it. The House approved its version with only three votes to spare in November.
Republican leaders say they will make healthcare reform a top issue in November's elections and urged Republican candidates to focus on the Democratic-crafted bills, which polls show are unpopular with the public.
"A vote for this bill opens an entirely new line of attack on House Democrats," Johnny Destefano, a House Republican campaign committee official, said in a memo to Republican House candidates.
"Now is the time to apply pressure and force your opponents into taking a stand on whether they will walk Speaker Pelosi's plank by supporting her last-ditch healthcare push," he said.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said the new push on healthcare would be a replay of the frantic maneuvering that marked Senate passage just before Christmas.
"Americans don't like this bill any more today than they did three months ago," he said.
But in Pennsylvania, Obama sought the public's help in rallying Congress to pass the overhaul. "It's time to make a decision," Obama said. "The time for talk is over."
The overhaul looked dead in January when Republicans deprived Democrats of their crucial 60th Senate vote by winning a Massachusetts special election, stopping negotiations to merge bills already passed by the House and Senate.
But changes to the Senate bill sought by Obama and House Democrats will be considered separately using a procedure that allows a majority vote in the 100-member Senate rather than the 60 votes needed to clear Republican procedural hurdles.
Obama proposed revisions to the Senate bill last week to ease the concerns of House Democrats, including watering down a tax on expensive insurance plans and boosting federal subsidies to make coverage more affordable.
"I think there's a lot more determination in the Congress now to get it passed," Democratic Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania told reporters after Obama's speech.
"I really think there's sort of reaction on the Democratic side of getting a little angry over the duration and intensity of obstruction and a lot more determination to see it through."
In her letter to insurers, Sebelius asked executives to post on their websites the justification for any individual or small group rate increases they implemented or proposed in 2010, and continue to do so in the future.
The heads of Cigna Corp, UnitedHealth Group Inc and privately held Health Care Service Corp also received the letter.
Health insurer shares were down for the day. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor index was down about 0.4 percent and the S&P Managed Health Care index was off 1 percent.
The CEO of Manpower, a global employment services company that provides temporary workers, said the uncertainty of the healthcare debate in Washington was keeping U.S. employers from hiring.
"The concern is that we have a political system that is too broken to fix systemic issues," CEO Jeff Joerres told Reuters.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Make or Break Health Care Summit, White House, Dems,
The White House is publicly treating Thursday's bipartisan health care summit as just another step in the process of passing comprehensive reform legislation.
Asked on Tuesday if it is the "last avenue" available for getting a bill passed, spokesman Robert Gibbs casually replied: "I hope not."
It's an effort to lower expectations.
Behind the scenes, the administration and congressional Democrats are meticulously preparing for Thursday's meeting and, more importantly, its immediate aftermath. Congressional leadership and the administration have held a series of discussions in the past few days to chart out a preliminary outline for the daylong event.
And although Gibbs has played it down, the summit is a make-or-break moment for health insurance reform.
"It's critical," said one Senate Democratic aide. "We need to emerge from this determined to get a bill passed. Or else, it won't."
Privately, administration officials have been talking with Democratic lawmakers about how they expect to pass legislation after the summit is over. The prospect of using the simple-majority budget reconciliation process -- once considered a last resort -- is now a virtual certainty. And legislative strategists who once focused on tallying senators have now turned their attention to the House, where concern is mounting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will lack the necessary votes.
The entire process is incredibly delicate, and no one wants to leave things to chance. On Monday, senior administration officials briefed Democratic press shops on Capitol Hill on talking points for the summit. A chief concern, according to staffers who were in the meeting, was what to expect from Republican lawmakers attending the meeting. "What are they going to bring to the table?" asked one spokesperson.
"We are expecting for the GOP to be vague," said another.
On Tuesday morning, meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met with his Democratic colleagues to discuss who will take the lead in tackling each of the summit's four issue areas: cost control, insurance market reform, deficit reduction, and coverage expansion. A White House aide told the Huffington Post that Obama himself will lead discussion of the first and last of those four issues. The president also will stay throughout the six-hour affair -- a huge chunk of time for the administration to set aside.
Among the most interesting theories posed by observers of the health care debate is that Obama and his team will introduce a strategic wrinkle into the summit's discussions. The big bet is on a very public embracing of some notable GOP proposal -- likely a variation of tort reform -- as a way of stripping Republicans of their talking point that the bill lacks bipartisan input. But not one official on Capitol Hill acknowledged talk along those lines.
The hope is that Obama can pull off a masterful performance that inspires his fellow Democrats. But no one -- not even the president's own press secretary -- is entirely sure if he has enough capital to work with.
"I'm not a vote counter on Capitol Hill," Gibbs said on Tuesday. "But I do believe this represents, among Democratic ideas, a good starting point based on where the Senate was with some tweaks to that legislation. But again, this is a starting point for discussions on Thursday that we hope will be fruitful."
"We have discussed this plan with Democrats," Gibbs added. "I know that they are evaluating parts of the legislation... I have confidence that based on the quotes that I've seen, this has been received warmly by Democrats on Capitol Hill."
Asked on Tuesday if it is the "last avenue" available for getting a bill passed, spokesman Robert Gibbs casually replied: "I hope not."
It's an effort to lower expectations.
Behind the scenes, the administration and congressional Democrats are meticulously preparing for Thursday's meeting and, more importantly, its immediate aftermath. Congressional leadership and the administration have held a series of discussions in the past few days to chart out a preliminary outline for the daylong event.
And although Gibbs has played it down, the summit is a make-or-break moment for health insurance reform.
"It's critical," said one Senate Democratic aide. "We need to emerge from this determined to get a bill passed. Or else, it won't."
Privately, administration officials have been talking with Democratic lawmakers about how they expect to pass legislation after the summit is over. The prospect of using the simple-majority budget reconciliation process -- once considered a last resort -- is now a virtual certainty. And legislative strategists who once focused on tallying senators have now turned their attention to the House, where concern is mounting that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will lack the necessary votes.
The entire process is incredibly delicate, and no one wants to leave things to chance. On Monday, senior administration officials briefed Democratic press shops on Capitol Hill on talking points for the summit. A chief concern, according to staffers who were in the meeting, was what to expect from Republican lawmakers attending the meeting. "What are they going to bring to the table?" asked one spokesperson.
"We are expecting for the GOP to be vague," said another.
On Tuesday morning, meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) met with his Democratic colleagues to discuss who will take the lead in tackling each of the summit's four issue areas: cost control, insurance market reform, deficit reduction, and coverage expansion. A White House aide told the Huffington Post that Obama himself will lead discussion of the first and last of those four issues. The president also will stay throughout the six-hour affair -- a huge chunk of time for the administration to set aside.
Among the most interesting theories posed by observers of the health care debate is that Obama and his team will introduce a strategic wrinkle into the summit's discussions. The big bet is on a very public embracing of some notable GOP proposal -- likely a variation of tort reform -- as a way of stripping Republicans of their talking point that the bill lacks bipartisan input. But not one official on Capitol Hill acknowledged talk along those lines.
The hope is that Obama can pull off a masterful performance that inspires his fellow Democrats. But no one -- not even the president's own press secretary -- is entirely sure if he has enough capital to work with.
"I'm not a vote counter on Capitol Hill," Gibbs said on Tuesday. "But I do believe this represents, among Democratic ideas, a good starting point based on where the Senate was with some tweaks to that legislation. But again, this is a starting point for discussions on Thursday that we hope will be fruitful."
"We have discussed this plan with Democrats," Gibbs added. "I know that they are evaluating parts of the legislation... I have confidence that based on the quotes that I've seen, this has been received warmly by Democrats on Capitol Hill."
Friday, February 12, 2010
White House sends out invites for health summit
Associated Press Writer – 6 mins ago
WASHINGTON – In a make or break move, President Barack Obama on Friday challenged three dozen Republicans and Democrats to participate in a one-of-a-kind televised summit this month to thrash out a deal on health care.
House Republicans immediately greeted the invite to the Feb. 25 event with derision, casting doubt on whether it would yield any bipartisan agreement to extend coverage to millions of Americans and rein in medical costs. "We need answers before we know if the White House is more interested in partisan theater than in facilitating a productive dialogue about solutions," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was more receptive, saying he would work with the White House "to maximize the effectiveness of the meeting."
The summit is considered a last, best attempt to revive Obama's yearlong quest, now stalled after Democrats lost their filibuster-proof Senate majority. Yet since Obama proposed the summit last weekend, Republicans and Democrats have voiced skepticism, with some in the GOP wondering if would be nothing but a spectacle that could benefit the president at their expense.
By presiding over a meeting with three dozen lawmakers trying to get a word in edgewise, Obama may be able to dominate the conversation and the visual images. That's what many Democrats say he did at a Jan. 29 session when he faced a roomful of GOP House members in Baltimore, controlling the microphone for much of the event.
The Baltimore event proved riveting for many Americans because it ranged over many topics and included numerous moments of partisan sparring. A half-day televised session on the complexities of health care may prove much less inviting to the average viewer.
In its invitation, the White House argued that remaking health care was imperative, and Obama challenged Democrats and Republicans to come up with comprehensive bills before the Blair House event — legislation that would be posted online.
Citing bills passed in the House and Senate, the White House said "this is the closest our nation has been to resolving this issue in the nearly 100 years that it has been debated. The Blair House meeting is the next step."
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cited the recent 39 percent rate hikes by Anthem Blue Cross in California as urgent proof the overhaul effort must be completed.
"As the president noted this week, if we don't act on comprehensive health insurance reform, this enormous rate hike will be 'just a preview of coming attractions,'" they wrote.
The letter was sent to McConnell, Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The White House named 21 lawmakers the president wants to attend the Feb. 25 event: the top leaders in the House and Senate and of the committees with jurisdiction over the health legislation. Obama also invited the top four leaders to invite four more lawmakers each, bringing the total to 37 — 20 Democrats and 17 Republicans.
Even prior to the invitation, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a physician and head of the Republican Study Committee, demissed the summit in an op-ed as "simply an attempt by the president to use the White House as a political tool to intimidate his way into a government takeover of health care. The American people and Republicans in Congress will not be taken by this Chicago-style politics."
At the summit, Obama will offer opening remarks, followed by comments from a Republican leader and a Democratic leader, according to the format detailed in Friday's letter. Obama will then moderate a discussion on four topics: insurance reforms, cost containment, expanding coverage and the impact of health legislation on the deficit.
Officials from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation also have been invited.
The letter stands as a challenge not just to Republicans but also to Democrats, who have yet to finalize a deal on sweeping overhaul legislation. They were on the verge of doing so last month before the special election victory of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts deprived Democrats of the filibuster-proof supermajority they need to move forward in the Senate.
That threw the whole undertaking into disarray and congressional leaders have been struggling to pick up the pieces. Some hope the summit will break the logjam one way or the other.
In the letter, Obama pressed Democrats to resolve their difference in the disparate House and Senate bills and come up with final legislation before the session. He also asked the Republicans to produce a comprehensive bill.
Democratic leaders are working toward a package that could pass the Senate under controversial and complex rules that require only a simple majority vote, not the 60-vote supermajority they no longer control — a strong-arm partisan approach that infuriates Republicans and makes moderate Democrats uneasy.
Democrats and Republicans are far apart in their approaches. Democrats' legislation would cover more than 30 million uninsured, while a House Republican plan would cover only 3 million. Members of both parties say they see a few areas for common ground, including reforming the medical malpractice system, and finding ways to allow consumers to shop for insurance plans across state lines.
WASHINGTON – In a make or break move, President Barack Obama on Friday challenged three dozen Republicans and Democrats to participate in a one-of-a-kind televised summit this month to thrash out a deal on health care.
House Republicans immediately greeted the invite to the Feb. 25 event with derision, casting doubt on whether it would yield any bipartisan agreement to extend coverage to millions of Americans and rein in medical costs. "We need answers before we know if the White House is more interested in partisan theater than in facilitating a productive dialogue about solutions," said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was more receptive, saying he would work with the White House "to maximize the effectiveness of the meeting."
The summit is considered a last, best attempt to revive Obama's yearlong quest, now stalled after Democrats lost their filibuster-proof Senate majority. Yet since Obama proposed the summit last weekend, Republicans and Democrats have voiced skepticism, with some in the GOP wondering if would be nothing but a spectacle that could benefit the president at their expense.
By presiding over a meeting with three dozen lawmakers trying to get a word in edgewise, Obama may be able to dominate the conversation and the visual images. That's what many Democrats say he did at a Jan. 29 session when he faced a roomful of GOP House members in Baltimore, controlling the microphone for much of the event.
The Baltimore event proved riveting for many Americans because it ranged over many topics and included numerous moments of partisan sparring. A half-day televised session on the complexities of health care may prove much less inviting to the average viewer.
In its invitation, the White House argued that remaking health care was imperative, and Obama challenged Democrats and Republicans to come up with comprehensive bills before the Blair House event — legislation that would be posted online.
Citing bills passed in the House and Senate, the White House said "this is the closest our nation has been to resolving this issue in the nearly 100 years that it has been debated. The Blair House meeting is the next step."
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius cited the recent 39 percent rate hikes by Anthem Blue Cross in California as urgent proof the overhaul effort must be completed.
"As the president noted this week, if we don't act on comprehensive health insurance reform, this enormous rate hike will be 'just a preview of coming attractions,'" they wrote.
The letter was sent to McConnell, Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The White House named 21 lawmakers the president wants to attend the Feb. 25 event: the top leaders in the House and Senate and of the committees with jurisdiction over the health legislation. Obama also invited the top four leaders to invite four more lawmakers each, bringing the total to 37 — 20 Democrats and 17 Republicans.
Even prior to the invitation, Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a physician and head of the Republican Study Committee, demissed the summit in an op-ed as "simply an attempt by the president to use the White House as a political tool to intimidate his way into a government takeover of health care. The American people and Republicans in Congress will not be taken by this Chicago-style politics."
At the summit, Obama will offer opening remarks, followed by comments from a Republican leader and a Democratic leader, according to the format detailed in Friday's letter. Obama will then moderate a discussion on four topics: insurance reforms, cost containment, expanding coverage and the impact of health legislation on the deficit.
Officials from the White House Office of Management and Budget and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation also have been invited.
The letter stands as a challenge not just to Republicans but also to Democrats, who have yet to finalize a deal on sweeping overhaul legislation. They were on the verge of doing so last month before the special election victory of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts deprived Democrats of the filibuster-proof supermajority they need to move forward in the Senate.
That threw the whole undertaking into disarray and congressional leaders have been struggling to pick up the pieces. Some hope the summit will break the logjam one way or the other.
In the letter, Obama pressed Democrats to resolve their difference in the disparate House and Senate bills and come up with final legislation before the session. He also asked the Republicans to produce a comprehensive bill.
Democratic leaders are working toward a package that could pass the Senate under controversial and complex rules that require only a simple majority vote, not the 60-vote supermajority they no longer control — a strong-arm partisan approach that infuriates Republicans and makes moderate Democrats uneasy.
Democrats and Republicans are far apart in their approaches. Democrats' legislation would cover more than 30 million uninsured, while a House Republican plan would cover only 3 million. Members of both parties say they see a few areas for common ground, including reforming the medical malpractice system, and finding ways to allow consumers to shop for insurance plans across state lines.
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