SPOTLIGHT: REFORM, REINVIGORATED
House Democrats familiar with the continuing efforts to develop a final
compromise between the House and Senate health reform bills said
yesterday that an agreement is close to being reached, but they stopped
short of providing details of the measure or when it would be released.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen
(D-Md.) said that although a deal is near, President Obama wants to
ensure that Republicans have the opportunity to add their ideas into the
bill before it is released. Meanwhile, two industry officials familiar
with the Democrats' discussions said that a White House proposal for
reform legislation could be released as early as Sunday. HHS Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius earlier this week confirmed that the House and Senate
bills passed last year would form the basis for the upcoming summit,
rejecting recent calls by Republicans to abandon the two bills and
restart reform negotiations. In addition, Sebelius during a scheduled
news conference today is expected to use a half-dozen examples of health
insurance companies that have attempted to enact large premium increases
for individual coverage as evidence for the need for health reform.
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