Washington » With a new president pushing an aggressive agenda and an economic crisis highlighting the need to cut costs, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch says Congress faces a unique opportunity to reform the U.S. health-care system.
But he also warned that Republicans will not let Democrats do anything they please, and he threatened "warfare" if the final bill includes too much government control.
Hatch, a key Republican on two Senate committees that oversee health policy, laid out what he considers the pillars of any deal Wednesday at a conference sponsored by the health-insurance industry.
"[The year] 2009 is the perfect year to begin to move toward a world-class health-care system," he said. "Our economic crisis is not an impediment but rather a reason to accomplish this important reform."
Hatch said a bipartisan health plan would have to not only reform the big government programs -- Medicare and Medicaid -- but also curb rising costs, give Americans health insurance they can take between jobs and focus on preventive care.
His speech came a week after President Barack Obama gathered leading politicians and representatives from key groups for a White House summit to discuss reform proposals. Obama set the goal of reaching an agreement by year's end.
Hatch attended the forum -- as did Utah GOP Sen. Bob Bennett -- and he also is in regular meetings with Democratic leaders such as Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy and Montana Sen. Max Baucus.
They agree on the diagnosis.
"We simply have an overly expensive and underperforming health-care system," Hatch said. "Americans deserve better."
But it's the treatment that is tricky.
Negotiators face a number of sensitive issues, including what role states will play and whether people should be required to have insurance, known as an individual mandate.
Hatch opposes mandates but said "we are going to look at everything."
"It is going to take some rare and important compromises to put this together."
