White House Less Firm on Date for Health Care Bill
July 19, 2009
President Obama’s budget director on Sunday appeared to soften on the administration’s insistence that a health care reform bill be delivered by August.
Written by DERRICK HENRY, The New York Times
President Obama’s budget director on Sunday appeared to soften on the administration’s insistence that a health care reform bill be delivered by August.
It’s still the goal,” Mr. Orszag said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” after he was asked if the president still wanted a bill on his desk before the summer recess. “We think we can make that.”
Mr. Orszag also appeared on “Fox News Sunday,” where he said “I think the chances are high” that both the Senate and House would deliver a bill to Mr. Obama by August.
The administration’s effort to overhaul the nation’s health care system hit a bump last week after the director of the Congressional Budget Office said a preliminary analysis found that the bills working their way through the House of Representatives would not reduce health costs over the next decade. Controlling such costs is one of Mr. Obama’s goals in his plan to extend health insurance to more than 45 million Americans who lack it.
One House bill would impose a surtax on high-income people and a payroll tax — as much as 8 percent of wages — on some employers who do not provide health insurance for workers. On Friday, the budget office’s director, Douglas W. Elmendorf, said the bill would add $239 billion to the national deficit over 10 years, partly because of an increase in Medicare spending to avert sharp cuts in payments to doctors.
Mr. Orszag said taking out those doctor payments with a new policy would make the bill “deficit-neutral” over 10 years. On Saturday, President Obama in a radio address said he would reject any health legislation that would increase the deficit. On “Fox News,” Mr. Orszag reaffirmed that statement.
Democrats in Congress have grown increasingly nervous about the cost of health-care reform, estimated at $1 trillion over ten years. They also have expressed concerns that they would not be able to deliver a bill to Mr. Obama by August without rolling over issues raised by Republicans and ending the appearance of bipartisan legislation on a major policy issue.
Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, said on “Fox News” that it appeared Democrats would persevere in both houses because of their majority but that what ultimately passes may not be the best bill.
Meanwhile, Mr. Orszag appeared to try to steer away from a growing perception that health care reform is encountering setbacks in Congress.
“None of this is easy,” Mr. Orszag said. “This is the legislative process, and this is what normally happens.”
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