Obama urges bipartisan support for health-care overhaul

SAN FRANCISCO — President Barack Obama on Saturday urged bipartisan cooperation to overhaul the health-care
industry in a bid to rejuvenate his most ambitious agenda since taking
office.

“I ask members of both parties to seek common ground
in an effort to solve a problem that’s been with us for generations,”
Obama said in his weekly address.

The president warned that if politicians do not act,
things will get worse, with more Americans living without the coverage
that they need.

“We’ll see more and more small businesses scale back
benefits, drop coverage, or close down because they can’t keep up with
rising rates. And in time, we’ll see these skyrocketing health-care
costs become the single largest driver of our federal deficits,” he
said.

Democrats’ efforts to pass a health-care overhaul have stalled due to, among other things, political wrangling.

The Democrats also lost their filibuster-proof majority in the Senate in January when Massachusetts voters elected underdog Republican Scott Brown to complete the term of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy.

But despite Obama’s overtures, Republicans appeared pessimistic.

“If the starting point for this summit is more of
the same backroom deals and partisan bills, then this meeting will
likely be a charade,” said Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., in the Republicans’ weekly address.

Camp, who is the lead Republican on the House Ways and Means Committee, called on Democrats to scrap “their massive government takeover of health care” for bipartisan conversation to take place.

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