New Obama health proposal would limit rate hikes

President Barack Obama is making a fresh attempt to rescue his health care overhaul by proposing a measure that would allow
the government to deny or roll back egregious insurance premium increases that infuriate consumers.

Recent premium hikes of as much as 39 percent sought by Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.'s Blue Cross subsidiary in
California have given Obama a new argument for his sweeping health care remake, stalled in Congress since Democrats lost their
60th Senate seat in a special election last month in Massachusetts.

Coming just days before a White House health care summit with congressional leaders of both parties, the new legislative
proposal, which will be unveiled later Monday, likely represents the president's last chance to salvage his signature
issue.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity because details have not yet been officially released, said the
insurance rate proposal would give the federal Health and Human Services Department—in conjunction with state authorities—the
power to deny substantial premium increases, limit them, or demand rebates for consumers.

In this new initiative, the administration, ironically, is seemingly playing on the same kind of public skepticism that has
endangered the medical care system remake all along. Health care reform was a front-burner issue for Obama and majority Democrats
in Congress until a little known Republican, Scott Brown, shocked the political establishment last month by defeating Massachusetts
Democrat Martha Coakley in a special election to choose a successor for the late Sen. Edward Kennedy.

The proposal for tighter oversight of insurers is modeled on legislation proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and
will be part of a broader plan the White House plans to post on its Web site at 10 a.m. Monday, ahead of Thursday's health
care summit.

Obama's latest plan is expected to require most Americans to carry health insurance coverage, with federal subsidies
to help many afford the premiums. Hewing close to a stalled Senate bill, it would bar insurance companies from denying coverage
to people with medical problems or charging them more. A tax on high-cost health insurance plans objected to by House Democrats—and
labor unions—would be scaled back. The expected price tag is around $1 trillion over 10 years.

Republicans have already served notice they'll continue to oppose it. They want Obama to start over with the goal of
producing a more modest bill that tries to curb costs and helps small businesses and people with health problems secure coverage.

The summit at Blair House, the White House guest residence, will be televised live on C-SPAN and perhaps on cable news networks.
It represents a risky and unusual gamble by the administration that Obama can save his embattled overhaul through persuasion—on
live TV.

It was forced on the administration by the Senate special election victory of Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown in January.
He captured the seat long held by Democrat Edward M. Kennedy, who died last year. Brown's victory reduced the Democrats'
majority in the Sente to 59 votes, one shy of the number needed to knock down Republican delaying tactics.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Sunday he would participate, but insisted Obama and congressional Democrats would
be wrong to push the bills they wrote in the House and Senate.

"The fundamental point I want to make is the arrogance of all of this. You know, they are saying: 'Ignore the wishes
of the American people. We know more about this than you do. And we're going to jam it down your throats no matter what.'
That is why the public is so angry at this Congress and this administration over this issue," said McConnell, R-Ky, speaking
on "Fox News Sunday."

Thursday's meeting will take place nearly a year after Obama launched his drive to remake health care—a Democratic
agenda item for decades—at an earlier summit he infused with a bipartisan spirit. The president will point out that
Republicans have supported individual elements of the Democratic bills.

Under the Obama plan, regulators would create a competitive marketplace for small businesses and people buying their own
coverage. The plan would be paid for with a mix of Medicare cuts and tax increases. It would also strip out special Medicaid
deals for certain states, while moving to close the Medicare prescription coverage gap and making newly available coverage
for working families more affordable.

Oversight of insurance companies has traditionally been a state responsibility. The proposal for a new federal role calls
for setting up a new seven-member Health Insurance Rate Authority that would monitor insurance industry behavior and issue
an annual report. States that beef up their consumer protection programs would be eligible for a share of $250 million in
federal grants.

People buying insurance coverage on their own would stand to gain the most, since big company plans are now exempt from state
oversight.