Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives are determined to show
significant progress on health care reform legislation before lawmakers
leave for their August break.
On Wednesday, House Democratic
leaders reached a compromise with conservative members of the party on
how to pay for reforms. The deal calls for the key House Energy and
Commerce Committee to vote on the legislation before the end of the
week.
The full House will then take up the bill in September.
Also
on Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama held town hall meetings in
the southern states of Virginia and North Carolina to campaign for
health care reform. Mr. Obama said his plan will provide more security
to Americans with medical insurance, and limit the power of insurance
companies.
He also said his plan would not amount to a government takeover of health care - as some of Republican critics have charged.
A
group of fiscally conservative party members had stalled the House
bill, saying if passed, it would lead to uncontrollable costs.
The
Senate is trying to reach a bipartisan agreement on a separate version
of health care reform that would cost less than the version being
worked on in the House. Eventually, both versions will have to be
reconciled and passed as one measure.
Legislation that the
president and his fellow Democrats want to pass by the end of the year
would create a government health insurance option to compete with
private insurers, require all individuals to have health insurance and
mandate employers to provide it.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
