AP
Obama may be paring back his ambitious agenda
Chastened by the Democratic Senate loss in Massachusetts,President Barack Obama and congressional allies signaled Wednesday they may try to scale back his sweeping health care overhaul in an effort to at least keep parts of it alive.
A simpler,less ambitious bill emerged as an alternative only hours after the loss of the party’s crucial 60th Senate seat forced the Democrats to slow their all-out drive to pass Obama’s signature legislation despite fierce Republican opposition. The White House is still hoping the House can pass the Senate bill in a quick strike,but Democrats are now considering other options.
No decisions have been made,lawmakers said,but they laid out a new approach that could still include these provisions:limiting the ability of insurance companies to deny coverage to people with medical problems,allowing young adults to stay on their parents’policies,helping small businesses and low-income people pay premiums and changing Medicare to encourage payment for quality care instead of sheer volume of services.
Obama said the election results wouldn’t sour his interest in passing a health care bill.