Panel pushes health care bill toward passage (AP) -- New details inside

WASHINGTON – After a bruising struggle, Democrats pushed sweeping health care legislation to the brink of passage in a key congressional committee on Friday, clearing the way for a September showdown in the House on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

As part of a last-minute series of changes, majority Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee agreed to limit increases in the cost of insurance sold under the bill, and also to give the federal government authority to negotiate directly with drug companies for lower prices under Medicare.

The new provisions were part of an intensive effort Democrats have made in recent days to satisfy the conflicting demands of liberals and conservatives on the panel. "We have agreed we need to pull together," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the committee chairman.

The measure is designed to extend health insurance to millions who now lack it, at the same time it strives to slow the growth in medical costs nationwide — Obama's twin goals.

In the run-up to final approval, the panel handed the drug industry a victory, voting 47-11 to grant 12 years of market protection to high-tech drugs used to combat cancer, Parkinson's and other deadly diseases. The decision was a setback for the White House, which had hoped to give patients faster access to generic versions of costly biotech medicines like the blockbuster cancer drug Avastin.

Democrats also turned back a Republican bid to strip out a provision allowing the government to sell insurance in competition with private industry. The vote was 31-28, reflecting the narrow working majority Democrats had on a committee with 59 members.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090801/ap_on_go_co/us_health_care_overhaul

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