White House, Republicans square off at health summit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will host more than 40 Democrats and Republicans at Washington's elegant Blair House on Thursday for a high-profile "summit" on ways to fix the troubled $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare industry.

The nationally televised six-hour event is due to start at 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) with an opening statement by Obama, followed by remarks from a Republican and a Democrat chosen from among each party's attendees.

Among others, they include the Democratic and Republican leaders from the House of Representatives and the Senate, plus the chairmen and top Republicans from the committees in both chambers that considered the sweeping overhaul bills that passed the Senate and House.

The participants will sit around a table arranged as a hollow square and be identified with name cards.

They will spend the hours after the opening remarks discussing four themes -- controlling costs, introduced by Obama; insurance reforms, introduced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; deficit reduction, introduced by Vice President Joe Biden, and expansion of coverage, also introduced by Obama.

There will be a break for lunch, with a buffet provided for the guests, and the event will wrap up at about 4 p.m. (2100 GMT).

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Peter Cooney)