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Obama, Republicans clash at health summit

26 February 2010 02:07 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. President Barack Obama and Republicans clashed frequently on Thursday at a summit on his stalled healthcare overhaul, battling over the size and cost of the proposal and moving no closer to a compromise agreement, APA reports citing Reuters.

Obama told about 40 congressional leaders his comprehensive overhaul was "absolutely critical" to a sustained economic recovery, but Republicans said he should scrap the current plans and start over with a smaller approach.

"There are some fundamental differences between us that we cannot paper over," Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told Obama, adding that his plan gave Washington too much power over the medical system and took it away from patients and doctors.

Obama hoped the day-long summit at Blair House, the presidential guest house across the street from the White House, would revive momentum in Congress for his faltering attempt to make healthcare more affordable and extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured Americans.

"I think we’re establishing that there are actually some areas of real agreement," Obama told reporters during a lunch break. "And we’re starting to focus on what the real disagreements are."

Obama urged lawmakers to go beyond political theater and partisan finger-pointing, but the polite tone was interrupted several times by tense exchanges with Republicans, including his 2008 presidential foe John McCain.

When McCain questioned whether Obama had delivered on the political change he promised, Obama curtly reminded him: "We’re not campaigning anymore. The election is over." McCain responded with a laugh: "I’m reminded of that every day."

Republican Senator Lamar Alexander and Obama also clashed on whether Democratic plans would raise insurance premiums, with each interrupting the other to make their points.

The summit appeared to have little impact on Wall Street, where health insurer stocks fell slightly, but performed better than the broader U.S. market. Shares in Humana slipped 0.6 percent, Aetna fell 0.3 percent and WellPoint rose 0.3 percent. The Morgan Stanley Healthcare Payor Index dropped 1.1 percent.

"The biggest threat originally was the specter of the public option and the President has taken it off the table," said Dave Shove, analyst for BMO Capital Markets. "I think that investors recognize that all the bad news about how reform might affect insurance companies is already behind us."