Pelosi open to healthcare surcharge change

WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she's rethinking a surcharge on the wealthy to pay for healthcare to include only families making $1 million or more.

The California Democrat also told Politico she would push to squeeze more savings from the medical industry than it already gave under agreements reached with the U.S. Senate and the White House.

Her reconsideration of the surcharge is being made as members of Congress are shying away from current language in a healthcare measure in the House that would raise taxes on individuals with annual gross adjusted incomes of $280,000, or families that make $350,000 or more.

"I'd like it to go higher than it is," Pelosi told the Washington publication in an interview published Monday.

The speaker said she would like to raise the threshold to $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for families, "so it's a millionaire's tax," she said.

Pelosi said she didn't know whether the medical industry would contribute more to any healthcare package.

"I know they can, to the extent that the special interests are willing to cooperate," she said. "They could do much better. ... Frankly, I think all the money (to pay for reform) could be drained from the system, if they were willing to do that."