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Obama Hosts Summit to Salvage US Health Care Bill

   VOA News 25 February 2010
   President  Barack  Obama gestures at the Blair House in Washington, 25
   Feb  2010,  as  he  renewed  his  efforts for health care reform while
   meeting with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders

Photo: AP

   President  Barack  Obama gestures at the Blair House in Washington, 25
   Feb  2010,  as  he  renewed  his  efforts for health care reform while
   meeting with Republican and Democratic Congressional leaders

   U.S.  President  Barack  Obama  has  urged  Democratic  and Republican
   lawmakers  to  bridge  their  differences  on health-care reform, at a
   special  televised  summit  aimed  at  reviving  legislation  that has
   stalled in Congress.
   At  the  summit  Thursday,  President Obama said there is "significant
   agreement" across party lines on many health care issues.  He said his
   hope  for the scheduled six-hour meeting is that leaders on both sides
   can  focus  on  the  areas  of  agreement  and  not  just on issues of
   disagreement.
   He said he hopes the discussion is not just "political theater."
   Speaking  for  the Republicans, Senator Lamar Alexander said his party
   believes  lawmakers  should "start over" on health care reform, with a
   goal of reducing health care costs.  He said Republicans would like to
   work step-by-step with Democrats to write a new health care bill.
   Alexander also appealed to the Democratic leadership and the president
   to  renounce  the idea of "jamming" their proposed legislation through
   Congress  without  Republican  support.   He  said  that  would  be an
   "outrage."
   President  Obama is seeking to reconcile differences between the House
   and Senate bills.
   Health care reform has been one of Mr. Obama's top priorities since he
   took  office.   He  says  insurance  companies are denying coverage to
   many,  and  that others cannot afford coverage or medical care because
   of skyrocketing costs.
   White  House spokesman Robert Gibbs told morning news shows before the
   meeting that President Obama is "anxious" to listen to Republicans and
   incorporate  more  of  their suggestions into his proposal to overhaul
   the health care industry.
   But  Senate  Republican  leader  Mitch  McConnell said he thinks it is
   "nearly  impossible" to imagine a scenario under which lawmakers could
   reach  an  agreement  unless  Democrats  abandon  the two reform bills
   passed last year.
   The American people also are skeptical.  A USA Today-Gallup poll found
   about  75 percent of Americans think the summit will fail to produce a
   deal.
   The  debate  is  being  televised  live from Blair House, the official
   guest house for White House visitors.
   Mr. Obama's Democratic Party suffered a major political defeat earlier
   this  year  when  voters  in Massachusetts elected a Republican to the
   U.S.  Senate  seat  held for decades by Democrat Edward "Ted" Kennedy.
   That  election  ended  the  Democrats'  60-seat  supermajority,  which
   allowed  them  to  contain  any  Republican  efforts to delay or block
   action on legislation.

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