Health consensus, obstructionism

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sees both "unprecedented consensus" from outside Congress and obstructionism by some on Capitol Hill in his drive to remake the nation's health-care system

"The historic movement to bring real, meaningful health-insurance reform to the American people gathered momentum this week as we approach the final days of this debate," Obama said Saturday in his weekly radio and Internet video address.

The consensus "includes everyone from doctors and nurses to hospitals and drug manufacturers" — even Republican governors and former GOP lawmakers, Obama said.

It does not extend to congressional Republicans, however, as nearly all of them oppose the Democrats' health-care proposals.

The president noted that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Bill Frist, all Republicans, and former Health and Human Service chiefs Louis Sullivan and Tommy Thompson, who both served in Republican administrations, have all come out in favor of overhauling health care, even though they differ on some specifics.

Dole said in an interview on the Fox News Channel late in the week that he has not endorsed any plan but is recommending that congressional Republicans "stay in the game" so they can have more impact on the final legislation through compromise and amendments.

"These distinguished leaders understand that health-insurance reform isn't a Democratic issue or a Republican issue, but an American issue that demands a solution," Obama said.

Democrats have made significant strides since Labor Day, when they returned to the Capitol after an August spent absorbing attacks from noisy conservative critics over health care.

A health-care bill soon to emerge from the Senate Finance Committee is the only one judged to meet Obama's conditions for expanding insurance coverage without raising the federal deficit, while also slowing the rise in medical costs.

Yet Obama said he recognized the issue remains divisive among members of Congress.

"There are some in Washington today who seem determined to play the same old partisan politics, working to score political points, even if it means burdening this country with an unsustainable status quo," Obama said. That "status quo" includes rising health-care costs, diminishing coverage and arbitrary decisions by big insurance companies, he said.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell differs with Obama's views on cooperation.