Making his final sales pitch for his health care plan, President Obama scorned politics and distanced himself from the partisan conflict that derailed the effort before, saying “that’s not what this is about.”
But the methods by which he hopes to pass health care reform belie the anti-Washington rhetoric coming out the White House, and represent the administration’s most politicized maneuverings to date.
“President Obama made it clear that he’s willing to say and do anything to defy the will of the American people and force his job- killing health care bill through the Congress,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Out of options since Democrats lost their supermajority in the Senate, the White House is pushing for the House to pass a revised Senate version of health care reform using reconciliation, a complex budgetary procedure that requires a simple majority and denies Republicans an option to filibuster.
Even with reduced numbers needed to pass the bill, House Democratic leaders face a tough battle to line up 217 votes for Obama. To that end, the president summoned two sets of Democratic House members to the White House Thursday to urge the process forward.
“I’ll leave it to others to sift through the politics,” Obama said. “Because that’s not what this is about. That’s not why we’re here.”
His dismissal of politics mark a sharp contrast from recent remarks he made about his own pollsters, and how they frequently urge him off making politically unpopular choices.
Now, the White House is banking on the limited attention span of Americans to overlook plans to muscle health care through Congress and remember only that Obama scored a win.
President Obama’s revised health care proposal includes provisions that would:
* Clear the way for federal government regulation of insurance industry rate increases.
* Create state health care exchanges where qualifying individuals could purchase coverage.
* Require individuals over a certain income level to obtain health coverage or face financial penalties.
* Raise the Medicare tax on high-income individuals from 2.35 percent to 2.9 percent, and impose the same tax rate on investment income for the wealthy.
* Phase in an excise tax on gold-plated insurance benefits worth $10,200 for individuals and $27,500 for families. The tax would kick in in 2018.
* Close the doughnut hole in Medicare drug coverage by 2020.
* Provide subsidies for low-income individuals and families to obtain health insurance.
The plan also may include variations on four concepts pushed by Republicans:
* Allowing medical professionals to run undercover stings aimed at reducing fraud in Medicare and Medicaid.
* Increasing physician reimbursements for Medicaid patients.
* Expanding the use of health savings accounts.
* Providing new grant funding for programs addressing medical malpractice.
“I don’t think it can be done, and shouldn’t be done the way the president wants to do it,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican who worked last year on a bipartisan reform package. “But, he has a perfect right to push for Congress to do that.”
Grassley added that those who vote for the Democratic plan “are really not voting the will of the people.”
Polls over the past year have shown a significant downturn in public support for reforming health care. A recent CBS News/New York Times poll found 48 percent believe Obama has spent too much time on the issue, ad 53 percent said the country can’t afford the plan.
The same poll found 55 percent disapprove of the president’s handling of the issue. The results track the findings of several other pollsters.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, however, said Americans want the president’s plan.
“The general mood of the country is that they want Democrats and Republicans to work together to get something done on health care,” Gibbs said.
The White House in recent weeks has intensified its criticism of Washington — as Obama’s agenda stalled and polls showed Americans becoming increasingly frustrated with partisanship and gridlock.
A February poll for CBS News/New York Times found 81 percent said it’s time to elect new people to Congress.
