In time for the Health Care Summit, President Obama releases a new health care proposal last February 22, 2010. White House officials revealed a new health insurance reform, a somewhat revised version of the Senate bill passed last Christmas Eve. The President’s proposal does not include the public option as they believe it will hinder passage in the Senate.

Last Thursday the much awaited Health Care Summit began at 10:00 a.m. with opening remarks from the President, followed by annotations from both Republicans and Democrats. The assembly focused on four themes: controlling health care costs, overhauling the insurance market, reducing the deficit and expanding insurance coverage.

As expected, the House Republicans arrived prepared with their own version of a health care bill that pleads with small businesses to join together to buy insurance, gives federal money to states to run high-risk pools for those unable to obtain private insurance and limits damages in medical malpractice lawsuits. This plan is estimated to cost $61 billion and cover three million people over ten years while President Obama’s plan would cost $950 billion and cover 30 million people over the same time period.