Washington (AP) - President Barack Obama's budget director is facing tough questions from Democratic and Republican senators who want more details on the administration's health care reform plans.
Obama's budget proposes a $634 billion "down payment" on extending coverage to 48 million uninsured Americans. But Peter Orszag, the White House office of management and budget, told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that filling in the details is up to them.
He said Congress shouldn't expect and "will not be receiving definitive answers from me."
That didn't satisfy the top Republican on the panel, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who raised his voice to complain that Obama's proposed cuts to private insurance plans serving Medicare could hurt rural America.