Grassley urges caution on U.S. health overhaul Wed Jul 29, 2009
By Donna Smith
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A leading U.S. Senate Republican helping negotiate a bipartisan agreement on a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system on Wednesday cautioned against rushing to reach a deal.
Senator Charles Grassley, the leading Republican in Senate Finance Committee closed-door talks on a proposed bill, said in an interview with Reuters that although negotiators had reached significant agreement, difficult issues remained to be resolve in financing and cost savings.
He said there was always a danger negotiations could "fall apart" adding that "these are tough issues that we are dealing with."
Grassley said he had concerns about one policy issue, but declined to talk further about it. Negotiators have cited significant progress in the closed-door discussion that they hope will yield a bill that both Democrats and Republicans can support.
Grassley cited tentative agreement on issues of importance to Republicans including no mandates on employers to provide insurance and no new "government run insurance program."
Instead of the public plan that many Democrats support, the bill is expected to include provisions allowing for the creation of nonprofit, member operated health co-operatives.
Grassley said negotiators also have agreement to do away with "perverse" incentives in the current $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry that rewards quantity of treatments over quality of outcome.
Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and other negotiators have expressed optimism in recent days over the prospects of reaching a bipartisan deal. But they have consistently warned that every tentative agreement is subject to final agreement over the entire package.
Senate Democratic leaders have been pushing the negotiators to try to reach a deal and move a bill out of committee by the end of next week when the Senate will begin a month-long recess.
In the interview, Grassley cautioned against moving too quickly on such a complex issue, pointing to an $787 billion economic stimulus quickly pushed through Congress, which he said failed to jump-start the stalled U.S. economy and added billions to an already bloated U.S. deficit.