Obama gambles, invites lawmakers to health care summit

WASHINGTON - Coming soon to daytime television: America's long-running civic drama over how to provide better health care to more of its people without breaking the bank.

President Barack Obama summons anxious Democrats and aloof Republicans to a White House summit Thursday - live on C-SPAN and perhaps cable - and gambles he can save his embattled health care overhaul by the power of persuasion. Adversaries and allies alike were surprised by Obama's invitation to reason together at an open forum, as risky as it is unusual.

Ahead of the meeting, the White House will post on its Web site a health-care plan that modifies the bill passed by Senate Democrats last year. The modification is an effort to address concerns of their House counterparts. The plan is important, but not as critical as the political skill Obama can apply to an impasse that seems close to hopeless in a pivotal congressional election year.

"It's a high-stakes situation for him more than anybody else," said Gerald Shea, the top health care adviser for the AFL-CIO. "If the judgment is either that it's a political farce, or if it fails to move the ball forward significantly ... that would be very damaging to the issue and to him."

Obama has two main goals. One is to show the public the Democrats' health care plan is reasonable, and much of its complexity reflects the sprawling nature of the insurance system. The other is to argue that lockstep Republican opposition is not reasonable and could spoil a historic opportunity on a problem concerning all Americans.

"I don't want to see this meeting turn into political theater, with each side simply reciting talking points and trying to score political points," the president said yesterday in his radio and Internet address. "What's being tested here is not just our ability to solve this one problem, but our ability to solve any problem."

Obama's main audience will be Democrats, who must overcome their divisions - and ease their qualms - to get a final bill. He will also tune his pitch to independents, who soured on the Democratic bills after initially being open to health care changes.

Thursday's meeting comes nearly a year after Obama launched his drive to remake health care at an earlier summit he infused with a bipartisan spirit. The president will point out that Republicans have supported individual elements of the Democratic bills.

But his latest plan has little chance of getting GOP support. Built on the Senate bill, it would require most Americans to carry coverage, with federal subsidies to help many afford the premiums. It would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to people with medical problems or charging them more.

The plan would be paid for with a mix of Medicare cuts and tax increases.MONDAY

The White House is expected to publish the president's health care blueprint on its Web site, a proposal drawing from the two Democratic bills now stalled in Congress.

THURSDAY

10 a.m.: President Barack Obama convenes health care summit with congressional leaders from both parties. The proceedings will be broadcast live in their entirety on C-SPAN.