Healthcare leaders say Obama overstated their promise to control costs

Hospitals and insurance companies said that President Obama had substantially overstated their promise to reduce the growth of health spending. Obama invited health industry leaders to the White House to trumpet their cost-control commitments. But three days later, confusion swirled as the companies' trade associations raced to tamp down angst among members around the country. After meeting with six major healthcare organizations Obama hailed their cost-cutting promise as historic, but healthcare leaders who attended the meeting have a different interpretation. They say they agreed to slow health spending in a more gradual way and did not pledge specific year-by-year cuts.