White House:Obama To Detail Additional Health Care Savings Soon
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama told Democratic lawmakers
Tuesday that he still supports boosting taxes on the wealthiest to raise money
for health care reform, and said he will detail new savings for Medicare and
Medicaid soon.
The president met Democrats from the House Ways and Means Committee at the
White House Tuesday, a session devoted to health care. The administration
characterized the meeting as "productive."
"They agreed that health reform legislation must lower costs and expand
coverage and must not add to the deficit," the White House said in a statement.
Earlier Tuesday, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., released health-care
legislation, but the measure left open questions about a public health insurance
option and a proposed requirement that employers provide health insurance or pay
a penalty. It's also unclear how the overhaul, expected to cost more than $1
trillion, would be funded.
"The president told the members that he will be spelling out additional
savings for Medicare and Medicaid soon," the White House said. "He reiterated
his support for his revenue-raising proposal, which would return the itemized
deduction rate for the wealthiest Americans back to what it was when Ronald
Reagan was president."
In a letter to lawmakers last week, Obama pledged to fully offset the cost of
health reform by cutting Medicare and Medicaid spending by another $200 billion
to $300 billion over the next decade.
The White House and Democrats in Congress are pushing to have the legislation
ready for Obama's signature in October.
-By Henry J. Pulizzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9256; henry.pulizzi@
dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-09-091750ET
Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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