WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A combative President Barack Obama on Monday sought to regain the initiative on overhauling the U.S. healthcare system after legislation slowed down in the U.S. Congress while he was abroad last week.
Key lawmakers on Sunday said the legislation, Obama's top priority, was unlikely to be passed by Congress by the time they go on their August vacation, amid a debate among Democrats over how to pay for its $1 trillion cost over 10 years.
A higher income tax on the wealthy was an option offered on Friday by an influential House of Representatives Democratic lawmaker, but it drew skepticism.
Obama, just back from a week-long trip to Europe and Africa, used a Rose Garden ceremony to make his case for the healthcare revamp and to tell his critics they should not write him off too soon on the subject.
"I just want to put everybody on notice, because there was a lot of chatter during the week that I was gone: We are going to get this done. Inaction is not an option."
"For those naysayers and cynics who think that this is not going to happen, don't bet against us. We are going to make this thing happen," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on Monday the goal was unchanged. "We'd like to see these bills on the floor in July. And we hope our Republican colleagues will work with us to achieve that goal," he said on the Senate floor.
Some political commentators have raised the question as to whether Obama should get more directly involved in healthcare negotiations.
Committee leaders in the House of Representatives planned to introduce a healthcare overhaul measure on Monday and consider amendments later in the week, even as they search for ways to fund the program.
Representative Charles Rangel, head of the House Ways and Means Committee, said the bill would include a tax on Americans earning more than $350,000 per year that would raise $540 billion over 10 years. The tax would begin in 2011 and have higher rates at the $500,000 and $1 million income levels.
This higher tax is expected to be opposed in the Senate.
Obama predicted more debate in the days ahead but said he would be successful in fulfilling his campaign pledge.
"Even though we are close, I've got no illusions that it's going to be easy to get over the finish line. There are going to be more debates and more disagreements before all is said and done, but healthcare reform must be done," Obama said.
Obama's meeting with union leaders on Monday was to touch on healthcare. He was also scheduled to discuss healthcare overhaul in Warren, Michigan, on Tuesday, a state where closed factories and the highest unemployment rate in the country have left many without private health insurance and struggling to pay healthcare bills.
As the overhaul legislation moves through Congress, health insurers, drug companies and hospitals are under pressure to help control the rapidly rising cost of U.S. healthcare.
U.S. health insurers were in talks with the Senate Finance Committee to reach savings in the federal Medicare program for the elderly and disabled of $100 billion over a decade, a source familiar with the talks said on Monday.
This followed the announcement of commitments for savings over ten years of $80 billion from the pharmaceutical industry and $155 billion from the hospital sector.
The insurers' discussions focus on subsidies for Medicare beneficiaries who get their coverage through private Medicare Advantage programs. These plans receive subsidies at a cost greater than through traditional government-run Medicare programs.
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