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Pelosi: House Taking Up Healthcare Before Recess
(Source: Associated Press)
Associated Press/AP Online
May 13, 2009
WASHINGTON – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that her chamber would have a sweeping health care bill on the floor by the end of July, an announcement that President Barack Obama hailed.
“That’s the kind of urgency and determination that we need to achieve what I believe will be historic legislation,” the president said at the White House, standing on the south driveway with Pelosi and Democratic leaders of the relevant House committees.
“Our health care system is broken,” Obama said. “We are not going to rest until we’ve delivered the kind of health care reform that’s going to bring down costs for families, improve quality, affordability, accessibility for all Americans.”
Pelosi, D-Calif., and other House Democrats had met with Obama and Vice President Joe Biden in the Oval Office just before going outside to make their announcement. No Republicans were present, and neither were any senators.
“We promised him that we will have this important legislation on the floor of the House before the August break,” Pelosi announced. “Our goal is to have a healthier America.”
Neither the speaker nor the president offered details of how the legislation will look, the subject of ongoing debate on Capitol Hill. The White House is remaining mostly quiet as proposals emerge for discussion among lawmakers, preferring to let Congress come up with a plan and engage more on the specifics later on.
Obama’s plan to provide coverage to some 50 million uninsured Americans is the cornerstone of his promise to enact a larger overhaul of the health care system. Independent experts put the costs at about $1.5 trillion over 10 years.
But turning that vision into reality remains the biggest challenge for the president and his backers, because hard cash – not just ideas – is required to cover upfront costs of expanding coverage.
The final financing package is likely to include a mix of tax increases and spending cuts in federal health programs. Among the possibilities are tax increases on alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and sugary soft drinks, and restrictions on other health care-related tax breaks, such as flexible spending accounts.
