Chairman Miller and House Leaders Attend White House Health Care Reform Meeting

by Press Staff

Today, February 25, at 10 a.m. Eastern time, Chairman Miller and House leadership attended an open bipartisan meeting at the White House to discuss Republican and Democratic ideas for making our health care system work better for the American people. 

The purpose of today's meeting was to have an open exchange about the best ideas for reforming our health care system, and to do it in a way that lets the American people observe and have confidence in the process. At the end of the day, the American people expect us to move forward. And we will.

The urgency of reform couldn’t be more clear: just this month, a major health insurer informed customers in California that they could see their premiums rise by as much as 39 percent this year.

The President’s proposal, designed to bridge the difference between the House and the Senate bills and informed by discussions with the House and Senate, puts American families and small business owners in control of their own health care and begins to give them the health care security they’ve been losing over the past 16 years.

  • It makes insurance more affordable by providing one of the largest tax cuts for health care in history – reducing premium costs and helping over 31 million Americans afford health care.
  • It sets up a new competitive health insurance market -- giving millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress have.
  • It brings greater accountability by laying out commonsense rules of the road to keep premiums down and prevent insurance industry abuses and denial of care.
  • It will end discrimination against Americans with pre-existing conditions.
  • It reduces the deficit by $100 billion over the next ten years by cutting government overspending and reining in waste, fraud and abuse.

This proposal makes three specific changes to the bill passed by the Senate:

  • It eliminates several “special deals” including the arrangement made for Nebraska;
  • It includes a series of measures proposed by Republicans to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse;
  • It includes a new provision to prevent arbitrary rate hikes like the recent 39 percent increase in California.


First Discussion Topic: Cost Containment
Second Discussion Topic: Insurance Reform
Third Discussion Topic: Deficit Reduction
Fourth Discussion Topic: Expanding Coverage