Obama urges tax on costly health policies

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama urged House Democrats to include a tax on high-price health insurance policies favored by the Senate in the final version of the bill.

For some time, the White House has said it preferred a tax on high-cost plans, which health economists say could be a key method to control long-term healthcare spending across public and private sectors, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The Senate proposal would levy a 40 percent excise tax on the cost of individual policies more than $8,500 and family policies topping $23,000, the Times reported. The Congressional Budget Office said the tax would raise about $149 billion over 10 years.

The House has been reluctant to endorse the tax, which also is opposed by unions, the Times said.

Obama met Wednesday with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House committee chairmen responsible for portions of the healthcare bill as congressional leaders accelerated efforts to reconcile differences between the House and Senate versions.

Pelosi said after the meeting she expected differences between the two bills to be worked out soon.

"We have had a very intense couple of days with meetings in our leadership, meetings with our staff," the California Democrat said. "After our leadership meeting ... our staff engaged with the Senate and the administration's staff to review the legislation, suggest legislative language. I think we're very close to reconciliation."