Your guide to today’s health-care summit
The health care summit will be carried live by C-SPAN, and major news operations starting at 10 a.m. today.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Cue the cameras.
President Barack Obama and his Republican arch foes will argue their case on health care overhaul at a bipartisan summit expected to stretch out for a solid six hours on live, daytime television today for millions of Americans.
Expect them to collide, not come together. Without a no-nonsense referee to slam the gavel on mind-fogging jargon, not to mention apocalyptic rhetoric, some viewers might wish Judge Judy was presiding.
Obama is hoping to resurrect his signature issue and restore his reputation as a different kind of politician who can deliver real results. Congressional leaders of both parties are worried about self-preservation and political control in the November elections.
The goal for Obama is to draw a glaring contrast between the big bill he’s backing and the limited steps Republicans are willing to take, hoping he can fire up anxious Democrats for what may be their last chance in a generation to provide health insurance coverage to nearly all Americans. They have the votes, but do they have the will?
Republicans, riding a populist backlash against the widening reach of government, continue to insist that Obama start from scratch.
With premiums going up by double digits for some consumers, polls show the public wants Congress and the president to deal with spiraling medical costs, shrinking coverage and questionable quality. But Americans are split over the Democratic bills. If Obama and the Democrats can’t get their legislation passed, there may still be a chance for a modest measure this year that smooths the rough edges of the current system but stops well short of coverage for all.
Obama will be the moderator in chief for talks on four topics: revamping insurance, cost containment, expanding coverage and the impact of health care legislation on deficit reduction. The summit will take place at Blair House, the presidential guest quarters across the street from the White House. Here’s a viewer’s guide for consumers on issues critical to working families, seniors and businesses:
U WORKING FAMILIES: While the cost of health insurance is a worry for most Americans, it’s a crisis for the nearly 50 million uninsured and about 27 million who buy their own coverage directly from an insurer. The $1-trillion, 10-year plan Obama and the Democrats have drafted focuses mainly on these two groups.
U SENIORS: Obama says his plan would preserve Medicare benefits and finally close the dreaded “doughnut hole” prescription coverage gap, in which seniors have to pay the full cost of their medications.
U EMPLOYERS: While Obama’s plan may be better than the status quo for consumers who buy their own coverage, it looks like a major headache for the businesses that employ them.
The president wouldn’t require employers to provide coverage, but his plan hits them with a stiff fine if even just one of their workers winds up getting federally subsidized benefits. And Obama significantly increased the fines in the Senate-passed bill that he took as the model for the proposal he’s bringing to the summit.
The health care summit will be carried live by C-SPAN, and major news operations including CNN plan extensive coverage during the day.
Will Americans switch channels from Oprah and Ellen for discussions on heath care? Stay tuned.
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