PREVIEW: Obama's last hope? Tense health care summit with Republicans

By Chris Cermak Feb 24, 2010, 2:08 GMT

Washington - Exactly one year ago, US President Barack Obama declared before a joint session of Congress that overhauling a costly and inefficient health care system would be one of his top domestic priorities.

This Thursday, Obama will embark on what many have described as a last-ditch effort to save that priority, inviting lawmakers from both political parties to the White House for a day-long televised health care 'summit.'

Obama has called the meeting a chance to find common ground, challenging his conservative critics to bring their best ideas for reforming health care to the table.

Yet the summit may be doomed before it even begins. John Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, labelled the meeting an 'infomercial' for Democrats and has yet to officially accept his invitation to attend, according to political news site Politico.com.

Republicans definitely attending the summit include Senator John McCain, Obama's Republican rival for the presidency in 2008. McCain will be one of seven Senate Republicans at the meeting.

Yet neither side can agree on the starting point for the latest round of talks, let alone on a way forward.

Obama on Monday for the first time offered his own blueprint for health reform, merging elements of legislation passed by the Senate and House of Representatives late last year. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called it a starting point for Thursday's talks.

Republicans have exulted Obama to reject the existing bills in their entirety and start with a clean slate. Party leaders quickly rejected Obama's bill, which would cost an estimated 950 billion dollars over 10 years.

The divisive battle for health reform has seen a never-ending run of twists and turns over the past year, from public outcries in summer townhall meetings to the Senate finally passing a health care bill in the early hours of Christmas Eve.

Obama has come closer than any president in four decades to passing comprehensive reforms of the health care sector, but at tremendous cost. His approval ratings have tumbled to below 50 per cent, as much of the public viewed the debate warily and many felt Obama took his eye off the ongoing economic crisis.

With Democrats on the brink of victory at the start of this year, the legislation was stopped in its tracks by a lone election loss in January that changed the political dynamics in the Senate.

Republican Scott Brown's victory in a special Massachusetts election to replace deceased Senator Ted Kennedy gave the Republicans 41 votes in the 100-member Senate, enough to effectively block any piece of legislation that comes through the chamber by way of a procedural manoeuvre known as the filibuster.

The shifting political balance forced Obama and his fellow Democrats to seek at least some Republican support for any health care legislation they wish to pass this year, but common ground will be difficult to come by.

While Obama's Democrats argue reforms are needed to extend health coverage to about 30 million uninsured Americans, Republicans have been united in opposition, chastising the reforms for amounting to a government takeover of the mostly private health sector.

Both sides agree on the need to reduce the costs of health care, which gulps up about 17 per cent of the US economy, nearly double the proportion in any other country.

But they disagree on the means: Obama wants to see more government involvement and on Monday proposed oversight powers to clamp down on insurance premiums, while Republicans are pushing for boosting private sector competition.