House Democrat holdouts agree to move forward on health care bill

Up dated 7-29-009
(CNN) -- A group of fiscally conservative House Democrats announced Wednesday they had reached a deal with the chamber's Democratic leaders on a bill that would revamp the nation's health care system.

President Obama stresses the urgency of health care reform at a town hall meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas, speaking for four of the Blue Dog Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said Wednesday that the agreement called for the panel to begin debating the bill later in the day, but for the full House not to vote until after the August recess.
Ross and the Blue Dogs had threatened to derail the bill in the committee because of concerns that it costs too much and fails to address systemic problems in the nation's ailing health care industry. It was not immediately clear Wednesday if other Blue Dogs beyond the four represented by Ross would agree to the deal he announced.
The Energy and Commerce Committee is the last of three House committees required to pass the bill before it goes to the full chamber.
The Blue Dogs had presented committee chairman Rep. Henry Waxman a list of 10 items that they wanted changed in health care reform proposals. Neither side revealed what the 10 items were.
Waxman said his committee would take up the bill Wednesday at 4 p.m., with hopes of approving it by Friday.
Ross said the deal between four Blue Dogs on the House committee, the House Democratic leadership and the White House lowers the cost of the House health care reform plan by $100 billion and also exempts businesses with payrolls below $500,000 from having to provide health coverage for workers.
Obama: No reduced Medicare benefits in reform
He also said the bill's government-funded public insurance option -- a key provision for President Obama and Democratic leaders -- would be a choice for consumers instead of coverage forced on people without health insurance.
Republican opponents of the public option and some Democrats, warn such a not-for-profit plan would have a competitive advantage over private insurers and eventually wipe them out.
"The public option will be required to negotiate with health care providers just like private insurance companies do to insure we have a level playing field," Ross said.
The announcement came as Obama held a town hall meeting on health care in Raleigh, North Carolina. Another town hall meeting is scheduled for later Wednesday afternoon at a Kroger grocery story in Bristol, Virginia.
If Congress fails to act soon, Obama warned the Raleigh audience, health costs will double over the next decade, make millions more Americans uninsured and bankrupt government on both the state and federal levels.
The president accused his critics of mischaracterizing his plan as a government takeover of health care.
"No one is talking about some government takeover," he said. "I'm tired of hearing that. ... These folks need to stop scaring everybody."
He also brushed aside criticism that the plan is being rushed through Congress without adequate time for review and debate.
Congressmen will have plenty of time to read the bill, Obama insisted. Noting that Congress won't finish deliberating the legislation until after its August recess, Obama said he'd be willing to invite any representative or senator over to the White House to review the bill "line by line."
Earlier Wednesday, CNN obtained an e-mail from a top aide of Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus that aimed to debunk a Washington Post headline that negotiators in that chamber were close to a deal.
"While progress has been made in recent days, neither an accord nor an announcement is imminent," wrote Russ Sullivan, Democratic staff director for the committee. "In fact, significant policy issues remain to be discussed among the Members, and any one of these issues could preclude bipartisan agreement."
While several senators have been more upbeat about the negotiators' progress over the past 24 hours, there is also concern about managing expectations, and about backlash from senators left out of negotiations who have not been briefed on all the details of the talks.
Still, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa told National Public Radio on Wednesday morning they are "on the edge" of a deal this week.
CNN's Dana Bash, Evan Glass, Deirdre Walsh and Ed Henry contributed to this report.
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