#1 GOP cool to Obama’s offer to meet on healthcare reform
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 5:12 pm
CSM
[quote]President Obama has invited Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to meet him on Feb. 25 for a televised discussion of healthcare reform alternatives. Will this be the spark needed to get the administration’s top domestic priority moving again?
It’s possible that it will indeed work, says one healthcare expert who worked on the failed Clinton-era attempt at reform.
That’s because for all the partisan bickering, there remain some areas of healthcare reform where the GOP and Democrats could reach common ground, according to Ken Thorpe, who was a top Health and Human Services official during the Clinton presidency.
These areas include some cost containment and payment reforms, he says.
“The opportunity is there for them to reach some kind of agreement,â€
[quote]President Obama has invited Republican and Democratic congressional leaders to meet him on Feb. 25 for a televised discussion of healthcare reform alternatives. Will this be the spark needed to get the administration’s top domestic priority moving again?
It’s possible that it will indeed work, says one healthcare expert who worked on the failed Clinton-era attempt at reform.
That’s because for all the partisan bickering, there remain some areas of healthcare reform where the GOP and Democrats could reach common ground, according to Ken Thorpe, who was a top Health and Human Services official during the Clinton presidency.
These areas include some cost containment and payment reforms, he says.
“The opportunity is there for them to reach some kind of agreement,â€