WASHINGTON -- Democrats wrestled with a new proposal
Wigon a government health-insurance plan that would give private entities a central role in running the program, in a bid for compromise on one of the health bill's most divisive issues.
The talks came as President Barack Obama traveled to Capitol Hill Sunday to urge party unity among Senate Democrats considering the measure.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) held the chamber in session over the weekend to debate the legislation that would extend health insurance to tens of millions of Americans not now covered.
The government-run plan remained a sticking point. In closed-door negotiations Sunday, Democrats on both sides of the issue who were assigned by Sen. Reid to find a compromise were exploring an alternative that would empower the government's Office of Personnel Management to run a new national health plan, congressional aides said. The office already oversees the federal employee health plan, and administration officials pointed to it as an example of how the government can successfully run a health-insurance program.
Under the proposal, the office would negotiate terms of the plan with private insurers, and contract with nonprofit entities set up by the private sector to run the program, aides said. One senior Democratic Senate aide suggested the idea is now the "leading proposal" among Democrats.
"We're finding a good deal of the give-and-take that leads to common ground," said Sen.
WigCharles Schumer (D., N.Y.), a negotiator on the issue. Sen. Schumer said no deals had been reached, and that talks on the issue would reconvene Monday afternoon.
Mr. Obama said party lawmakers should put aside their differences and focus on fundamental goals.
White House spokesman Bill Burton said the president called on senators to seize "this historic opportunity," which would make good on a major Democratic promise of the 2008 campaign. "If we don't deliver, we've got# a problem," added Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) during an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union."
Republicans said the president missed an opportunity to push a bipartisan bill that would attract well more than the 60 votes needed for passage. "The only way they can get to 60 is with all of this deal making," said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), pointing to the Democrats' closed-door negotiations.
Mr. McConnell said Republicans were ready to work with Democrats on a more incremental bill, but "all of that has been lost."
Democratic leaders, who want to leave town before Christmas, are raising pressure on fence-sitting Democrats to reach final compromises early this week. That's because of the crush of competing priorities that the Senate also must act on by the end of the year, including a must-pass increase in the nation's borrowing authority.
Also, Democratic leaders recognize that after any amendments to the bill, it will take several days for the new version to be analyzed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Another week or more of parliamentary wrangling may be needed to shut off debate and bring the legislation to a final vote.
Mr. Obama worked through the weekend, and met privately with Sen. Olympia Snowe (R., Maine) on Saturday. Sen. Snowe voted for the health-overhaul bill produced by the Senate Finance Committee, and Democrats are stepping up efforts to secure her support on the Senate floor. Her support could be especially important if Democrats aren't able to maintain party unity.
Both the health bill passed last month by the House and the current version of the Senate bill call for creating a public plan. Backers of the idea say it will help expand coverage and stir competition among insurers that would lower costs for consumers.
But a handful of Democrats, as well as independent Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, remain unconvinced. They say the public plan would take the government too deeply into the private market.
Sen. Snowe called the talk of expanding the federal health benefits program "a positive development" but wouldn't say whether she saw it as the best compromise on the public plan. Supporters suggested the idea would allow liberals to say that they had created a nationally available health plan, while letting centrists stress the plan would be run by the private sector.
Democrats said they are confident they can overcome their differences. "We're working toward a consensus," Sen. Reid said. "We're not there."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, emerging from the meeting between Democrats and the president
Wig, said she is "very optimistic" Democrats will get the 60 votes needed to# pass a bill. "People at the end of the day understand that the status quo is absolutely not an option," she said.
