Hot Air » Blog Archive » Report: Dems near deal on ObamaCare before health-care summit?

Hot Air » Blog Archive » Report: Dems near deal on ObamaCare before health-care summit?: "It’s a trap.

Here’s the state of play. Right now, leadership aides say, the White House is in talks with House and Senate leaders over the so-called “Cadillac” tax. The House wants the threshold tweaked to make it more palatable to Dem members who oppose it. Some Senators adamantly oppose this. But the leadership is discussing various tweaks that could work.

Crucially, the House leadership may sign on to the compromise even without a tweak to the Cadillac tax, according to a senior leadership aide. That’s because the compromise is not going to be voted on — it’s merely to create something to take to the summit. So this logjam may still get resolved in time…

Meanwhile, Senate Dem leaders are warming to the use of “reconciliation” to fix their bill after the summit, a senior Senate aide says.

“We’re getting closer,” the Senate aide says of reconciliation, adding that the leadership is more likely to pursue that course if the summit doesn’t yield any kind of compromise with Republicans, as expected. “People want to get rid of health care. They want it off the agenda. The simplest answer is that reconciliation may be the most expedient way to do it.”"