Unions, White House said to reach healthcare deal

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Union officials and the White House have reached an agreement to allow some taxes on high-end health insurance plans, resolving a problem that threatened to block the negotiations on healthcare overhaul, according to sources close to the talks.

The White House, union officials and top Democrats have been meeting for days to resolve the outstanding differences between the House and Senate versions of the healthcare bill. President Obama is scheduled to visit with rank-and-file House Democrats this evening to sell the compromise.

The Senate version of healthcare overhaul includes a tax on high-end policies, creating a problem for unions and their allies in the House. In effect, unions argued that their members gave up raises to get better healthcare, so it would be unfair to tax them for receiving better benefits.

The Obama administration wanted to keep some version of the tax, maintaining that it would help bring down the overall cost of healthcare.

Politically, Democrats are trying to hew as closely as possible to the Senate version of the bill because of the difficulty in holding on to the 60 votes needed in that chamber for passage.

While details remain sketchy, the agreement is expected to change the numbers so that most unionized workers will not have to be taxed.

The agreement is just part of the effort to balance the two bills. Still outstanding are such issues as the amount of subsidies to be paid to lower-income people to help them buy mandated insurance policies.

-- Noam N. Levey and Michael Muskal