The Washington Times (3/11, Lengell) reports, "The White House budget director told Congress Tuesday that the final cost of the administration's healthcare reform plan will exceed the $634 billion the president has set aside for the effort." However, OMB Director Peter Orszag "declined to give a final price tag of the overhaul, telling the Senate Finance Committee hearing he didn't want to play the 'typical Washington game of gotcha.'" He also told Congress that they "should not expect -- and you will not be receiving -- definitive answers from me on exactly what the administration does or does not favor on the benefits and coverage side of health reform." In response to a question from Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) about "the cost of doing nothing," Orszag "predicted that ignoring the problem will lead to a fiscal crisis for the federal government that also will burden state capitals."
The AP (3/11, Werner) reports Orszag "rebuffed congressional demands for specifics on the administration's multibillion-dollar plans for healthcare, telling lawmakers that deciding how the money is spent is largely up to them." His response "frustrated Republicans and a few Democrats." While the Clinton plan failed in part because of a lack of input from Congress, Obama's "opposite approach has its pitfalls, as senators peppered Orszag with questions that he wouldn't or couldn't answer."
Similar to the AP, the Wall Street Journal (3/11, Rubenstein) examined in its Health Blog whether Obama's plan to rely on Congress to flesh out the details is working, and noted that in addition to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus "kept asking for more detail."
The Politico (3/11, Brown) reports Sen. Grassley was visibly "irritated" with Orszag over "Obama's plan to trim some Medicare reimbursement rates that may disproportionately affect rural populations." He "was irritated in part because Orszag had warned senators at the start of the hearing that they would not get specific responses on key questions." Obama has outlined "eight vague principles on healthcare reform and has declined to share further details -- a strategy aimed at keeping the broadest swath of people at the table as Congress negotiates a bill."
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