Republicans: U.S. healthcare timetable may slip

Democrats have tried to trim cost estimates to make it more palatable, while Republicans have balked at proposals for a Democratic-backed government-run public insurance option to cover about 46 million uninsured Americans.

In the Democratic-controlled Senate, where Democrats have the 60 votes needed to overcome procedural hurdles, party leaders have tried to keep their shaky coalition together while gaining at least some Republican support.

Proposals for possible taxes on some employer-sponsored health benefits to help pay for the overhaul have drawn opposition from some Democrats, Democratic Senator Charles Schumer said. "What we are trying to do is find a way to get to 60 votes," Schumer told reporters.

But Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said the idea was still on the table, along with other possible revenue sources including excise taxes, surtaxes and "sin taxes" on alcohol and tobacco to reach a target of $320 billion over 10 years.

"There are very few things in life that are black and white. some are lighter shades of gray, some are darker shades," he told reporters.

In his announcement, Biden said hospitals would achieve the savings mostly in Medicare and Medicaid programs but skimped on the details, pointing only to reforms in hospital delivery and payment systems.

"Folks, reform is coming. It is on track, it's coming," Biden said in announcing the deal.

The Obama administration previously had called for sharper reductions of roughly $200 billion from hospitals, and Joseph Antos, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said the final legislation could drive up the cost for hospitals.

"It's still very early in the game," Antos said.

Hospital stocks ended mostly lower. Universal Health Services was down 2 percent at $49.10 per share in mid-afternoon trading, LifePoint Hospitals Inc was down 1.5 percent at $25.60, while Health Management Associates Inc ended marginally higher at $5.15 after declining earlier in the session.

(Writing by John Whitesides; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Lisa Richwine; editing by Jackie Frank and Cynthia Osterman)