So far, neither the president nor senior Democrats such as Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana have provided more than scant details about how they plan to raise the money.
A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation found solid majorities of Americans favor some ideas for funding the overhaul, such as raising taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and families making more than $250,000.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday, June 13, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 4 National Desk 1 inches; 50 words Type of Material: Correction
Healthcare lobbying: An article in Thursday's Section A about interest group lobbying on healthcare legislation said the liquor lobby sent a San Francisco brewer to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) to oppose a proposed increase in beverage taxes. The brewer met with her staff, not the speaker.
But taxing sodas and unhealthy snacks is less popular, as is an across-the-board income tax hike.
Obama sparked an immediate backlash when he laid out plans to raise nearly $300 billion over the next decade by cutting payments to private insurers that contract to provide healthcare to seniors under the Medicare Advantage program.
The insurance industry, which helped derail the Clinton administration's healthcare push in the early 1990s, mobilized thousands of senior citizens by organizing Medicare Advantage community meetings across the country.
AARP, with more than 40 million members, blanketed Capitol Hill with letters warning lawmakers not to cut benefits to seniors.
Others rebelled at a second Obama proposal to come up with an additional $300 billion by reducing deductions for high-income taxpayers on charitable contributions, home mortgage interest, and state and local taxes.
Charitable organizations, who claimed the change would reduce the incentive for people to give to nonprofits during a recession, were so successful getting their message across on Capitol Hill that home builders and Realtors did not bother mounting a high-octane lobbying campaign of their own.
Congressional ideas have fared little better, with lobbyists challenging proposals to levy fees on businesses that don't provide health insurance and to raise taxes on liquor and sugary drinks.
Many interest groups are competing to convince lawmakers that they can't afford to get saddled with a healthcare tab.
When senior Democrats this week put forward their proposal for requiring employers to provide health insurance or pay into a fund to cover the uninsured, business groups led the charge.
"All we have been talking about for months is cost, cost, cost," said R. Bruce Josten, lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "It seems like employers are the one group getting stuck paying the bill."
Gerry Shea, a top official at the AFL-CIO, which has been leading the fight against taxing health benefits, suggested charities, not people with health benefits, should pay.
"Nothing could turn my stomach more than seeing the charitable foundations going into panic mode," Shea said. "This is about healthcare. These foundations think their budget is more important than health."
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noam.levey@latimes.com
janet.hook@latimes.com
