Health care negotiators have a Tuesday deadline

Sen. Max Baucus said he will present his own plan for overhauling the system if his "Gang of Six" doesn't reach a consensus.

By LORI MONTGOMERY and SHAILAGH MURRAY, Washington Post

Last update: September 4, 2009 - 8:45 PM

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DEVELOPMENTS

•The Senate's chief negotiator said he won't wait much longer for Republicans to compromise amid dwindling chances for a bipartisan bill.

•House liberals pleaded with President Obama to push for creation of a government-run health care program.

• Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday evening and has promised to detail his preferences.

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WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Friday pressured his team of health care negotiators to agree to a bipartisan overhaul plan before President Obama addresses Congress next week, warning that otherwise he will put forth his own proposal.

Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., told his five colleagues in a conference call that he wants a group decision on a bill by Tuesday. Without it, he said, he intends to propose a bill based on the Finance Committee's extensive policy work over the past two months. Baucus pledged to the White House weeks ago that he would keep the "Gang of Six" -- all members of the Finance Committee -- on track in its already lengthy negotiations.

The move by Baucus comes at a critical moment for Obama. The president's speech to Congress on Wednesday offers him the choice of preserving liberal ideals in the health care bill, including the government-funded insurance option that has become the focal point of the debate, or else falling in step with moderates.

Neither option presents an easy path. Democrats control both houses of Congress, but moderate Democrats are reluctant to rely on a party-line vote to pass a landmark bill, one that stokes emotions across the ideological spectrum. Republican senators still hold considerable power to obstruct legislation they don't like.

In a statement, Baucus stressed the broad areas of consensus his group has forged over the past few months, but he underscored the urgency of the moment. He said the negotiators will meet face to face Tuesday to determine "how to best pass real reform," and added: "I am committed to getting health care reform done -- done soon and done right."

A White House official said that while the president continues to review legislative options, he has not decided what policy objectives to endorse Wednesday. Even reaching accord with moderates is no guarantee of passage, however.

Up to a dozen Senate Democrats are believed to oppose to some degree the federally funded insurance proposal -- the "public option" -- and it remains unclear how many would embrace a fallback measure that the White House is contemplating. Every Democrat who backs away means another Republican vote the White House would need to win.

The mood of the Senate is making liberal Democrats, particularly those in the House, uneasy. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday issued an adamant defense of a "vigorous public option." Other House leaders noted that cutting the cost of the overall package, which several negotiators have said they want to do, will probably require cutting the federal subsidies to help people comply with a new mandate to buy health insurance -- an idea both parties have embraced.

"We're asking every citizen to take some responsibility for their own health care. But you can't reasonably ask somebody to do something that's totally beyond their financial means," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a member of the House leadership. "That's the tradeoff."

To help ease that anxiety, Obama spoke Friday afternoon with the liberal leaders of the black, Hispanic, Asian Pacific American and progressive House caucuses. In a conference call, the lawmakers laid out their concerns to Obama about the direction of the legislative debate.

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