President Obama put forward a “last-ditch” effort to pass his health care overhaul Monday.

The $1 trillion compromise over 10 years would allow the government to deny excessive insurance premium hikes.

According to the White House, the plan would offer coverage to 31 million currently uninsured Americans while not adding to the federal deficit.

This new plan came on the heels of the last proposal that appeared to be on the doorstep of being passed before Republican Scott Brown won the seat of the late senator Ted Kennedy.
After investing so much political capital in revamping the nation’s health care system, Obama does not want to leave the table empty-handed, especially in an election year and his fresh bill offered many compromises.

The most notable compromise in the plan is the exclusion of a government insurance option, which was fiercely opposed by both conservatives and many moderates in both the House and the Senate.

The new plan would enable the government to regulate the health insurance industry much like a public utility. The federal government, along with state governments, would be able to limit excessive premium hikes or demand rebates for customers.

Obama, who originally left the details to be worked out by congress, has taken a stronger position and laid out the details that he wants included.

One desired fix included is the barring of insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals with prior health conditions. Obama also scaled back his proposed tax on high-cost insurance plans that was met with resistance from House Democrats. He wants to plug the tax revenue gaps with a Medicare pay-roll tax increase, an increase on upper-income individuals, and Medicare taxes on investments as well as wages.

Experts are still unsure whether the compromised bill will have the momentum to make its way through the senate with such strong Republican opposition.