Enlarge imageBy John Whitesides
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic leaders promised swift action on a healthcare overhaul on Thursday after a high-stakes speech by President Barack Obama that earned good public reviews but appeared to change few minds in Congress.
Democrats hoped Obama's prime-time address to a joint session of Congress would dispel public scepticism and generate new momentum for his drive to reshape the $2.5 trillion (1.5 trillion pounds) healthcare industry.
"We'll pass healthcare insurance reform that will work for the American people," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told a news conference. "I'm confident the president will sign a bill this year."
Obama, speaking to a group of nurses on Thursday morning, renewed his call for urgency in the healthcare debate.
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"Now is the time to act and I will not permit reform to be postponed or imperilled by the usual ideological diversions," Obama said. "We have talked this issue to death, year after year, decade after decade, and the time for talk is winding down, the time for bickering has passed."
A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll showed 67 percent of respondents supported Obama's healthcare reforms after the speech, compared with 53 percent beforehand.
One in seven who watched the address to Congress changed their minds on the president's plan. The poll had an error margin of 5 percentage points, and more Democrats than Republicans were surveyed.
"I think he recentered the debate," Vice President Joe Biden said of Obama's speech in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" on Thursday. But he acknowledged, "I don't know whether he got the Republicans or not."
Republican reaction was far cooler. Senator John McCain was concerned about the high cost of the Obama plan.
"The math doesn't add up and the record doesn't add up," McCain, who ran against Obama for the presidency last year, said on NBC's "Today" show. "There is very little if anything in this package that calls for real spending reduction and $1 trillion is basically what it's going to cost."
Shares of U.S. health insurers climbed in early trading on Wall Street as analysts said Obama's speech contained no surprises and indicated a government-run insurance option opposed by the industry was less likely to be included in the plan.
Shares of UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint, the two largest health insurers, each edged up less than 1 percent in morning trading. Other insurers rose more sharply, with Aetna up more than 1 percent and Cigna Corp rising more than 3 percent.
Senate Finance Committee negotiators were set to resume talks on Thursday in a final bid to forge a bipartisan agreement on a bill, although committee chairman Max Baucus said on Wednesday he was ready to go forward without Republican support.
The Census Bureau released new data estimating the number of people living in the United States without health insurance climbed to 46.3 million in 2008 from 45.7 million a year earlier, a modest rise that was unlikely to alter the argument over basic changes in the U.S. insurance system.
NEW GOAL FOR UNINSURED
Obama adjusted his goals for coverage during his speech to Congress, saying his aim was to win health insurance for 30 million who are now uninsured, rather than 46 million. A White House official said the new figure does not include illegal immigrants and a smaller group who would refuse insurance even when available.
Obama hoped his speech would reclaim control of a debate that has been bogged down in Congress amid a flood of criticism and disputes even as his own public approval figures dropped.
He said the overhaul would cut costs, improve care and regulate insurers to help protect consumers while expanding coverage. He repeated his pledge that the proposal, which would cost $900 billion over 10 years, would not increase the budget deficit.
Obama spelled out the concepts he wanted in any final bill passed by Congress, including affordable coverage for all Americans and creation of an insurance exchange where individuals and small businesses could shop for policies.
He reiterated his support for a government-run insurance plan -- the so-called "public option" -- that has drawn strong opposition from critics who say it would harm insurance companies and amount to a government takeover of the industry. But he said the lack of a public option in any final bill would not be a deal-breaker.
Three committees in the House of Representatives and one other Senate panel have completed work on a healthcare bill, leaving the Senate Finance Committee as the final hurdle before each chamber takes up the issue.
In a bid to win Republican support, Obama proposed a series of state demonstration projects on medical malpractice reform, a long-sought goal of Republicans. He also endorsed a proposal from McCain for an insurance pool for high-risk consumers.
He said millions of uninsured Americans were living one illness away from bankruptcy and others could not get insurance because of pre-existing conditions. He promised tax credits for individuals who cannot afford coverage.
(Additional reporting by Steve Holland, Thomas Ferraro, Andy Sullivan, Donna Smith; Editing by Bill Trott)
