On Thursday, President Obama hosted a bipartisan meeting on health care reform in Blair House. This meeting was key for the president in getting health care legislation back on track for congressional passage, either by achieving bipartisan consensus or by solidifying support in the Democratic party. Prior to this meeting, the White House had released a health care reform proposal with elements from the House and Senate reform legislation, as well as Republican congress member's suggestions (see, DM 11761). However, for the most part Republican leadership appeared skeptical leading into the summit (DM 11782). During the summit, no definitive consensus was reached, but the president did keep referring to the issues both parties agreed upon--many insurance market reforms and tort reform--and noting the major differences: how to get coverage to the estimated 30 million Americans without health care insurance, and addressing pre-existing conditions in insurance reform.

The six-hour summit was televised live on C-Span 3 and on the White House Web site. Vice President Joe Biden, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius accompanied the president; Democratic and Republican congressional attendees were seated around a square conference table. The four topics covered were: Health Care Costs, Insurance Reforms, Deficit Reduction, and Expanded Coverage. Some of the highlights include the following:

In hour one, the President began with a short address to the attendees. Noting that the year has been one of the toughest on record, he also said one of the "biggest drags on the economy" is health care costs. He summarized the problems in the current health care system, including affordability and accessibility to insurance. He acknowledged Republican congresspersons who have championed some reform. "What I hope to accomplish is for everybody to focus not only on where we differ, but where we agree," he said, going on to state how proposed health insurance exchanges, a Republican idea, would be beneficial to Americans.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) had the opening statement for the Republican side. He said that Republicans want the president to succeed, but that the administration should put the current health care reform bill on the shelf and start over. He also asked that the president and Democrats in the Senate agree not to use the budget reconciliation procedure to pass any measures. In advocating starting over on reform in a step-by-step manner, Alexander stated that the U.S. was too "big, too complicated, too decentralized" to do otherwise. He also listed Republican incremental ideas on reform, including buying insurance across state lines; tort reform; state incentives to lower health costs; and expanding health savings accounts.

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