Seeking to hit the reset button on the acrimonious health care debate, President Obama will address a joint session of Congress on Sept. 9 and renew his call to pass legislation retooling the health insurance market this year.
Obama is likely to more thoroughly detail his expectations for an overhaul, including what he deems an acceptable fallback to a public insurance plan that would compete against private insurers.
The White House has concluded it doesn't have the votes in the Senate to pass a plan that includes a public insurance option. The administration is considering other options, including a non-profit "co-ops" that would be governed by private boards.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., invited the president to make the speech next Wednesday evening, as is required under protocol, a congressional aide said. Logistics for the speech are still being worked out.
Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also will meet with Obama at the White House on Sept. 8 -- the day Congress returns from its five-week summer recess -- to discuss the fall legislative agenda with Obama, the aide said. Health care is expected to top the list of subjects to be discussed.
Obama's address follows a caucus of House Democrats on Sept. 9 to thrash out how they want to proceed on bringing a health care bill (HR 3200) to the floor in September.
That caucus also will give the lawmakers a chance to compare notes about the meetings they held in their districts durin the recess -- meetings in which many of them encountered fierce opposition from critics of Democratic health care plans.
While Democrats in the House generally say they are still committed to the idea of a health care overhaul, it remains to be seen if support for the public option remains sufficient to include it in the final House version of an overhaul plan.
The House version will be created by merging bills already the Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means and Education and Labor committees have already approved.
Lawmakers said Obama needs to take a more hands-on role guiding the health care debate. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told an editorial-board meeting of the Des Moines Register today that the president has to make his case to the American people, because of the fierce opposition that surfaced at town hall meetings during the August recess.
"President Obama has to step up and sort of tell the American people, 'Here's what we need to do. Here's what we should do. Here's what the health plan should encompass, and here's what I think we should fight for,'" said Harkin, who serves on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. "I think the longer we delay this, the more misinformation gets out among people. I think we have to wrap this up, hopefully by Christmas time."
The White House has been increasingly critical of Republicans that administration officials contend are not bargaining in good faith over contours of a health plan.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs on Tuesday lashed out at two Republican lawmakers involved in the talks -- Michael B. Enzi of Wyoming and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa -- for criticizing Democratic plans during appearances in their home states.
However, Obama is likely to use the address to enumerate issues on which Democrats and many Republicans agree, including proposed regulations barring health insurers from basing coverage decisions on individuals' health conditions. House Republican Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio, who has called on Obama to scrap his health care ideas and start over, said he hoped the president uses his speech to do just that.
"Obviously, we want to hear what the president has to say, but the American people don't want a new speech, they want a new plan. We need to scrap the Democrats' government takeover of health care and start over on a real, bipartisan plan for reform," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel.
The address will mark the second time Obama will speak to a joint session of Congress this year. The first on Feb. 24, came in lieu of a State of the Union address, and primarily focused on the financial crisis.
Edward Epstein and Bart Jansen contributed to this story.
