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News Tip: Obama Needs to Push for Individual Mandate at Thursday's Health Summit, Duke Expert Says

Don Taylor: 'In poker terms, this is all in for the president.'

President Obama should tell Republicans at Thursday's televised health summit that he is willing to push for reconciliation among already approved health care reform legislation if they refuse to negotiate, says a Duke University expert on health care policy.

"In poker terms, this is all in for the president," said Donald Taylor, assistant professor of public policy at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy. "The Democrats seem to not have the nerve to finish the job. The Republicans can't seem to shift out of defeat-the-president mode."

Obama challenged Republicans earlier this month to attend the meeting and to bring their plans for lowering the cost of health insurance and expanding coverage. Obama released his reform plan on Monday.

"The biggest idea that the summit needs to focus on is the individual mandate," Taylor said. "The essence of opposition to reform bills has ebbed and flowed on different topics and aspects, but the most profound opposition seems to be against an individual mandate. The president will have to make the case."