White House Resists Offering Details On Financing Health Strategy
So far, White House officials have offered few details on how they intend to pay for the plan. Instead, theyve deferred to Congress on the issue, saying theyll consider all options.
With Obama this week declaring ownership of the plan to enact the most extensive changes in health care in more than four decades, the White Houses reluctance to break down how it would finance the measure is rankling some lawmakers.
“He needs to put together a blisteringly specific plan that can be analyzed by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office or embrace legislation that is already being considered,” said Representative Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican and member of the House Appropriations Committee. “Otherwise, all we have is non-specific assertions with no credible support.”
Administration officials say two-thirds of the legislation will be financed by savings in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and the elimination of “waste, fraud and abuse” in the health-care system. The remainder will come from revenue- raising measures, some of which have stirred opposition in Congress. As a result, some lawmakers and experts say Obamas plans lack the clarity his aides promised before his speech.
Working With Congress
Even on Obamas endorsement of a proposal to tax insurers on their most expensive policies, officials said they hadnt yet settled on the threshold for imposing the levy. They wouldnt specify how much revenue it would generate, estimating it would yield between $100 billion and $200 billion over 10 years.
“Thats one of the things that well work through and discuss with Congress as we move forward,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday in his daily briefing.
Some lawmakers and analysts say the White House is pursuing a smart strategy by leaving itself open to various ideas, since that may make it easier for House and Senate negotiators to complete legislation.
“He needs to be mindful of the role Congress has in this,” said Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware. “The role of the president is to steer the boat, not row the boat.”
Leaving out the details of how the plan will be paid for is “familiar code” for a noncommittal strategy that may make the congressional talks easier, said Bill Galston, a scholar at the Washington-based Brookings Institution who was a domestic policy adviser to former President Bill Clinton.
Wont Know for Sure
Obama and congressional Democrats are trying to extend coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and rein in health- care costs that account for about one-sixth of the U.S. economy. Among other issues, theyre considering requiring employers to provide coverage, mandating that everyone get insurance and placing new rules on insurers.
The administration outlined a plan in June to raise $948 billion over 10 years to carry out the reform that depended heavily on cost savings. Yet more than $300 billion in revenue came from a proposed limit on tax deductions for high-income filers that has run into opposition in Congress.
Falling Short
The tax on high-end health plans that Obama backed this week falls short of that $300 billion mark in the version being considered by the Senate Finance Committee. Finance Chairman Max Baucus has proposed a $200 billion levy on insurance companies that offer health plans valued at more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families.
The administrations cost-savings plan also drew skepticism from David Walker, former head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Congresss investigative arm.
“We dont have enough details,” said Walker, who is now president and CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.
White House officials argue that the president has proposed more than $1 trillion in savings and revenue measures to pay for the proposed overhaul. Proposals have included a $635 billion down payment in Obamas fiscal 2010 budget; $313 billion in planned savings in Medicare and Medicaid, and the tax on insurance policies, which could raise between $100 billion and $200 billion over 10 years.