Obama administration still optimistic about passage of healthcare reform by yearend

WASHINGTON, July 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's administration remained optimistic about the passage of the overhaul healthcare reform at Congress by the end of the year, said a White House official on Friday.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said in a radio interview that the president would stick to the healthcare reform as his domestic policy objective although the Senate failed to meet the deadline he has set for the passage of the bill by August.

"I think we will have a bill by the end of the year for the president to sign on healthcare reform that controls costs, expands coverage and provides choice," Emanuel told National Public Radio.

He made these remarks after Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on Thursday that his floor would rather have a product "that is one that is based on quality and thoughtfulness" than "trying to jam something through."

"The decision was made to give them more time for the finance committee part of what we're trying to do and I don't think it is unreasonable. This is a complex, difficult issue," he said.

In recent weeks, Obama has stepped up his efforts to push forward his overhaul healthcare reform at Congress, which is aimed at curbing rapidly rising costs and expanding health insurance coverage to the 46 million uninsured Americans.

The president has earlier set a timetable for Congress to vote on the healthcare reform bill before its month-long recess starting Aug. 7.

To push the legislation forward in the House of Representatives, Democratic Party leaders said on Friday that they are likely to go ahead with a vote in the full House next week without reaching agreement with fiscally conservative Democrats who objected to the bill for concern on its high cost.

Emanuel said during the interview that the White House is also urging Congress to present a proposal for an outside commission on health care costs cutting.

"If you want to control costs, one of the things the president talked about is to have a group of health experts to ensure that, in fact, the changes that are necessary to the system so the system is more efficient, more cost effective, are done," he said.

The White House also dismissed that the delay in voting on the reform in the Senate would frustrate Obama's administration.

"Nobody thought we were having a signing ceremony before the beginning of the August recess," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters. "The end probably isn't going to happen one way or the other until sometime in the fall."