Splinters appear in health overhaul

WASHINGTON -- Months of relative cooperation among disparate interest groups in the heath-care reform debate appear to be coming to an end.

Friendly alliances among medical and business groups have begun to splinter in reaction to concrete legislation from House Democrats, which cleared two important committee hurdles Friday.

The House bill aims to cover 97 percent of Americans by 2015, in part through a sliding surtax on household incomes exceeding $350,000. The proposal also includes a public insurance option. It is strongly opposed by Republicans, many conservative Democrats and major insurers, and it faces difficult prospects in the Senate.

The Democratic National Committee this week began running cable television ads targeting many of the party's wavering senators, declaring that "it's time for health-care reform."

The DNC, acting through its Organizing for America grass-roots project, has also ramped up a nationwide schedule of meetings and rallies.

The Republican National Committee this week launched a BarackObamaExperiment.com Web site, which urges supporters to write their representatives in opposition to Democratic proposals.

Hundreds of conservatives gathered around the country Friday for health-care protests. More than 200 people marched outside the office of Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., in Richmond. In Chesterfield County, an estimated 300 gathered outside the local office of Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Va.

The protests were organized by Tea Party Patriots, a group that got its start this year during protests over federal bailouts of Wall Street firms.

The political climate has changed notably from May, when President Barack Obama stood with half a dozen health-industry trade groups that had pledged to come up with $2 trillion in savings over the next decade.

But with several pieces of legislation written, interest groups have begun taking sides. Richard Kirsch, Health Care for America Now's national campaign manager, said that "things are heating up, because there are actual bills out there."

He added: "It's not just a concept anymore."

In his weekly address yesterday, Obama said, "I will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade." It was the sixth consecutive day Obama sought to keep the focus on his chief domestic priority in the face of mounting resistance.

However, a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office said the House legislation would increase deficits by $239 billion over a decade.