WASHINGTON — The White House scrambled Wednesday to get Democrats behind a unified message of affordability and choice on health legislation amid concerns that Republicans could scare the public with images of a health care system run by bureaucrats.
President Barack Obama used his bully pulpit for the third consecutive day to reinforce his commitment to reshaping the nation’s health care system to bring down costs and extend coverage to 50 million uninsured people. At his side, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated her pledge to bring a health care overhaul bill to the House floor before August.
The White House dispatched top political adviser David Axelrod to Capitol Hill to meet behind closed doors with Senate Democrats on selling health care reform to voters.
Senators emerged from the meeting in agreement that messaging was key. Affordability and choice would be emphasized. The issue of coverage for the uninsured would be tied to affordability for all.
The message, for example, would be that uninsured people drive up costs when they go to emergency rooms for routine care.
