Congressional Republicans remain skeptical of health summit, but Pawlenty asks for governor inclusion

Although Congressional Republicans continue their dismissal of President Obama's health care summit slated for next week, they are still planning to attend, Roll Call reports. "On Wednesday, the GOP responded contemptuously to Sebelius' declaration" that the already-passed Senate and House bills would be the starting point for the summit negotiations. An aide to House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) "referred to a television interview in which his boss made clear the GOP planned to participate in the event" (Drucker, 2/17).

In the meantime, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty requested Wednesday in a letter to Obama that governors be allowed to attend the summit, the Minnesota Post reports. "Pawlenty wrote that governors can assist in the cause of health reform because they "have hands-on experience reforming health care in our states" (Wallbank, 2/17).

Finally, Politico reports that House Republicans are "taking a page from the president's playbook" by challenging Democrats -- in a letter from the House's two top Republicans to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md. -- to discuss job creation issues during a televised debate. "Their call comes as Democrats struggle to find consensus on a job creation package and in advance of the Feb. 25 bipartisan health care summit" (O'Connor, 2/17).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.