President Barack Obama tried to rejuvenate his stalled health-care overhaul today with a revised plan designed to make coverage more affordable and bolster federal authority to regulate insurance premium hikes.
The proposal comes three days ahead of a bipartisan White House health-care summit on Thursday as Mr Obama tries to rally flagging congressional and US public support for a sweeping overhaul that would tighten regulations on insurers and expand coverage to tens of millions of Americans.
Republicans have demanded that Obama scrap the health-care bills passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate and House of Representatives last year. But White House officials rejected the idea and said they hoped the new plan would resolve the differences in the two versions.
The new plan, which revises the bill passed by the Senate last year, would cost $950 billion over 10 years and would not expand the deficit, White House officials said.
It expands tax credits for middle-class workers to make insurance more affordable and strengthens federal oversight of insurance premium increases.
It also eliminates a controversial Senate deal exempting the state of Nebraska from Medicaid increases, closes a gap in prescription drug coverage and incorporates a January deal raising the income threshold for a tax on high-cost "Cadillac" insurance plans.
The proposal provides more tax credits to small businesses than either the Senate or House bills and provides all states full federal funding for increases in Medicaid, the government health insurance programme for the poor, for four years, the White House said.
Congressional leaders have scrambled for a way forward on health care since a surprise Republican victory in a special Massachusetts Senate election cost Democrats their crucial 60th Senate vote and brought negotiations on merging their two bills to a halt.
Republicans condemned the Democratic president's plan as a warmed-over version of the unpopular health care bills passed by the Senate and House of Representatives last year and renewed their calls to scrap the plans.
Republicans said the proposal was a bad sign for Thursday's summit.
"This week's summit clearly has all the makings of a Democratic infomercial for continuing on a partisan course that relies on more backroom deals and parliamentary tricks," House Republican leader John Boehner said.
However, the White House said Mr Obama's plan would make it easier to bypass Republicans if necessary and ram legislation through in a process requiring a simple majority in the 100-member Senate rather than the 60 votes needed to clear procedural hurdles.
Reuters