Obama presents health reform plan

President Barack Obama yesterday unveiled his own plan to overhaul the US health care system in a last-ditch effort to break the deadlock in Congress and prevent the Republicans from derailing his agenda.

The Obama plan, a combination of Bills already adopted by the Senate and the House of Representatives, aims to cover 31 million uninsured Americans and crack down on exorbitant premium hikes by insurers.

It was published as promised on the White House website 72 hours before a key "summit" with Republican leaders who have sought to block the reforms and stall Mr Obama's agenda ahead of mid-term elections in November.

The plan is widely seen as an attempt by Mr Obama to transform his top domestic initiative from a political liability into a trump card to outwit a Republican resurgence founded on blanket opposition.

Mr Obama is hoping to tap into a new supply of political support arising from the recent decision by leading insurer Anthem Blue Cross of California to raise premiums by as much as 39 per cent from March 1.

The Obama plan grants the federal government greater power than both the House and Senate bills to block such hikes and envisages the creation of a new monitoring body of health industry experts.

It claims it would reduce the US budget deficit "by $100 billion over the next 10 years - and about one trillion over the second decade - by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs challenged the Republicans to come back with their own plans and said that "face-to-face discussions" on Thursday were what the American public wanted to see.

"We hope Republicans will post their ideas, either on their website, or we'd be happy to post them on ours, so that the American people could come to one location and find out the parameters of what will largely be discussed on Thursday."

The live, televised meeting at Blair House, across the street from the White House, could be Mr Obama's last chance to pass a reform drive that has already eaten up large chunks of his political capital.

Mr Obama has boxed the Republicans into a corner, knowing that if they compromise he will likely get all the credit for passing his signature reforms, but if they simply block him they will be seen as thwarting bipartisanship.

The number two House Republican, Eric Cantor, dismissed the new proposals as mirroring House and Senate Bills that he said had already been roundly rejected by the majority of Americans.

"The Obama plan costs a trillion dollars, puts government in control of personal health decisions, and allows the government to set prices in the private market," said Mr Cantor's spokesman Brad Dayspring.

The opposition party is setting out its own battle lines on health care, arguing that its proposals have been public for some time, and saying Mr Obama is insincere in his promise to work with them.

Mr Obama threw down the gauntlet to his opponents at a town hall meeting on Friday in Las Vegas, urging the Republicans that if they had a better way of doing it: "Show me what you got."