Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, seven of whom are fiscally conservative Blue Dogs, emerged from the White House this afternoon saying their hour-long meeting with President Obama was constructive and that they had a “breakthrough” on Medicare payment recommendations.
The White House’s proposal to strengthen the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations on how Medicare pays health care providers, won support from Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), according to Rep. Mike Ross (D-AR), but they haven’t finalized an agreement.
“We came out of the meeting with an understanding that we’re moving in that direction, based on the fact that the CBO tells us that it’s the biggest single item we can address as it relates to cost containment,” Ross told Dow Jones.
Ross also said they agree with Obama’s four main goals for health care reform, according to Politico.
“He said it must be deficit neutral. He said it must contain cost and reduce health care inflation. He said we’ve got to cover as many people as we possibly can, making health insurance affordable for them. And that we need insurance reform, that we’ve got to cover pre-existing conditions. We share all of those principles, all those concerns,” Ross said.
He added that final decisions on cost-cutting measures won’t be made until the Congressional Budget Office scores the various provisions under consideration, according to Congressional Quarterly.
Waxman pointed out that the entire committee, and not just the Blue Dogs, are committed to bringing down health care costs, reports The Hill.
