health care summit schedule

Reporting from Washington - Following up on last week's healthcare summit, President Obama today sent a letter to congressional leaders expressing interest in including several Republican ideas in the updated healthcare plan that he will outline Wednesday.

The president singled out a proposal by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to use undercover medical professionals to help identify fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health programs.

He said he was open to appropriating $50 million in federal funding to help states explore alternatives to resolving medical malpractice lawsuits, including the establishment of so-called health courts, a top priority of GOP lawmakers.

Obama expressed interest in taking steps to help states raise reimbursements for doctors participating in Medicaid, which has historically paid health providers less than what Medicare or private insurers pay. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) raised that issue at the summit.

And the president said he was open to including language in his proposal to expand Health Savings Accounts and including high-deductible health plans in the new insurance exchanges that Democrats plan to set up around the country to help people buy coverage if they do not get it through work. This idea, raised by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), is another longtime GOP proposal for addressing problems with the nation's healthcare system.

"I said throughout this that I'd continue to draw on the best ideas from both parties, and I'm open to these proposals in that spirit," Obama wrote in the letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

Finally, Obama gave a nod to criticism leveled by Arizona Sen. John McCain, the 2008 GOP presidential candidate, who has repeatedly criticized deals included in Democratic healthcare legislation at the request of individual lawmakers.

"There are provisions that were added to the legislation that shouldn't have been," Obama wrote, singling out a provision to protect seniors in Florida from cuts to the Medicare Advantage program and another provision to give Nebraska special federal assistance to help it expand its Medicaid program.

As he did at the summit last week, Obama stressed that he believed the two parties shared key goals in addressing healthcare.

But the president also acknowledged the gulf still separating Democrats and Republicans.

"While we all believe that reform must be built around our existing private health insurance system, I believe that we must hold the insurance industry to clear rules, so they can't arbitrarily raise rates or reduce or eliminate coverage," Obama wrote. "I also believe that piecemeal reform is not the best way to effectively reduce premiums, end the exclusion of people with pre-existing conditions or offer Americans the security of knowing that they will never lose coverage, even if they lose or change jobs."