Obama to get specific on healthcare legislation

The president will detail his ideas days before the televised congressional talks planned next week. It marks a change in tack from his approach to let congressional leaders take the lead.

By Noam N. Levey
LA Times
8:33 PM PST, February 18, 2010

Reporting from Washington

President Obama, after sustaining months of criticism for not being clear about what he wanted in healthcare legislation, will post specific proposals for a comprehensive plan on the Internet by Monday, according to the White House.

The posting would come three days before a televised meeting that Obama plans to convene with congressional Democratic and Republican leaders in hopes of restarting his stalled bid to overhaul the nation's healthcare system.

"There will be one proposal. It is the president's," Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday while unveiling a report highlighting large premium increases by insurance companies nationwide, including California-based Anthem Blue Cross.

"I think the idea is that it will take some of the best of the ideas [from the House and Senate bills] and put them into a framework moving forward," Sebelius said.

(More here.)