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Dems clear one health obstacle, others loom

Published: Saturday, July 25, 2009 9:03 AM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Democrats announced agreement Friday on far-reaching steps designed to rein in the

relentless growth of Medicare, part of a concerted effort to counter the impression that President Barack Obama's

health care legislation is in deep trouble.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed the agreement as a "giant step forward" for the bill that Obama has made a test of

his leadership. Advocates said it eventually would turn Medicare toward a program that rewards quality, rather than

volume, as well as alter a system that pays doctors and other providers more in some regions of the country than

others.

Yet the leadership all but abandoned a pledge to approve legislation before a monthlong vacation scheduled to

begin at the end of next week. Maryland Rep. Steny Hoyer, the majority leader, left open the possibility that

lawmakers would be held in session a day or more longer than scheduled to allow time for a vote. If not, "We have

every intention of passing it by the fall," he said.

Separately, talks between the leadership and rebellious conservative and moderate Democrats demanding changes in

the bill collapsed in acrimony during the day, then were revived with a handshake a few hours later.

In a further attempt to blunt criticism, Democrats circulated a breakdown claiming to show the benefits of the

legislation in each of the nation's 435 congressional districts.

The maneuvering in Congress came as Obama met at the White House with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,

and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the chairman of the Finance Committee, who has been trying for months to produce a

bipartisan agreement.

"I said to him (Obama) what I say to everybody. We are ready when we are ready," Baucus later told The

Associated Press in an interview.

Obama has worked energetically in public appearances, interviews, meetings with lawmakers and a prime-time news

conference this week to advance legislation he wants to expand coverage to millions without insurance at the same

time it restraints the growth of health care generally.

"I'm fully committed to making that happen," Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press and other

reporters Friday on health care.

Despite his efforts, Republicans have grown more emboldened as efforts in Congress stall, and some have

suggested that defeat of the drive to remake health care could cripple his presidency, now in its sixth month.

Reid announced on Thursday that he was abandoning his timetable of passing legislation in the Senate before

lawmakers begin their vacation, saying Republicans involved in the bipartisan negotiations had asked for more time.


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