Is a Health Care Deal Near?
Democratic leaders from the House and Senate are returning to the White House today to meet with the president about health care, after meeting for eight hours yesterday.
"We are hopeful that by day's end they will have worked through -- House, Senate and the president -- worked through any number of issues that remain outstanding, not just the excise tax on Cadillac health plans, but other issues," Gibbs said in his daily briefing. "So I think we are -- I think we are very, very close. I think, again, I think they made extraordinary, tremendous progress yesterday."
Democrats have already reached a tentative deal on the proposed tax on high-end, "Cadillac" insurance plans, according to reports. The tax was included in the Senate version of the health care bill but has been decried by some House Democrats as well as union leaders, who say it amounts to a tax on the middle class.
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The New York Times reports the tax will be included in the final bill but that the threshold at which the tax would hit insurance plans will be increased. Currently, individual insurance plans above $8,500 and family plans above $23,000 would be hit by a 40 percent tax. The Washington Post reports that the deal would temporarily exempt union health plans from the tax.
CBS News Capitol Hill Correspondent Jill Jackson reports that the Democrats tentatively agreed to exclude the cost of vision and dental plans from the overall cost when calculating which plans would be hit by the tax, according to one source with knowledge of the tentative agreement. House Democratic aides say they've made progress on the deal but that they are still talking to members, and a few details still need to be worked out, Jackson reports.