Congressional leaders have promised President Obama comprehensive healthcare reform legislation by July 31. This promise comes as many in Congress were beginning to believe it would take at least until this fall to come up with a bipartisan bill.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has said Congress has not yet begun to tackle the most difficult parts of the healthcare debate, including how to fund reform, the destiny of the employer healthcare tax exclusion and a potential national health plan to compete with insurance plans in the private market.
"The House and Senate are beginning a critical debate that will determine the health of our nation's economy and its families," Obama said. "This process should be transparent and
inclusive and its product must drive down costs, assure quality and affordable healthcare for everyone, and guarantee all of us a choice of doctors and plans."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House Office of Health Reform director Nancy-Ann DeParle have said they are spending much of their time on Capitol Hill pushing the president's reform plan. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in May that the president's designs for health reform have not wavered from his campaign promises.
Prior to his election, Obama said he would provide access to affordable, quality care for all Americans, and would introduce a portable, public plan option. The president has said he is not in favor of eliminating the tax exclusion for employers who provide health benefits, nor does he want to threaten the employer-based system.
Obama's budget – most of which has been adopted by Congress – includes a $635 billion down-payment toward health reform. Republicans argue the president's plan will threaten the stability of the private healthcare market and is too costly. Proponents of the president's plan say the cost of not spending money on reform will be much higher, with sharply increasing healthcare costs straining the economy and threatening to topple America's global status.
May was packed with a host of congressional hearings on healthcare reform. Sen. Baucus said key congressional committees have begun to draft legislation. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans fear that Democrats will use a special reconciliation provision in the new budget resolution that will allow a simple majority of votes to pass a reform bill, which would eliminate the threat of a Republican filibuster and limit Congressional debate.