House Democrats Detail New Health Package : Medicine: Government would set ceilings on charges by doctors, hospitals and labs. The savings would finance wider access to treatment.

WASHINGTON — House Democratic leaders, seeking to breathe new life into their effort to overhaul the nation’s ailing medical system, Wednesday unveiled a sweeping new package of proposals designed to hold down costs and make health care accessible to more Americans.

The program, presented as a compromise alternative to two other health care reform strategies supported by segments of the Democratic majority, would have states--or Washington--set annual ceilings on prices charged by physicians, hospitals and laboratories and use the savings to finance reforms designed to broaden access to care and make health insurance more affordable.

The approach will be put into legislative form this month and next by the House Ways and Means Committee.

To make the package more salable, however, Democratic leaders agreed to allow separate committee votes on two rival strategies: a “play-or-pay” plan that would provide federal health insurance for workers not covered by their employers and the Canadian-style “single-payer” scheme, which would create a government-managed national program.

Some Democrats fear that the result of the struggle over the contending approaches could be a political free-for-all that ends up with the lawmakers unable to agree on any significant reform.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Oakland), who outlined the new plan to reporters Wednesday after a caucus of Democrats, conceded that it is “an amalgam” of ideas that lawmakers have floated and still does not have the backing of Republicans and conservatives.

Even so, he quickly expressed confidence that pushing it to the House floor on a rush basis would force members to take a stand. “It is my understanding that the (House Democratic) leadership does not intend to bring this to the floor and lose,” he said.

The bill outlined Wednesday includes these major elements:

* The federal government would set an overall annual limit on the health care bill that the nation pays and would establish ceilings on charges by all physicians, hospitals, laboratories and other providers.

* Congress would overhaul the health insurance system to prevent insurance companies from denying coverage to individuals or groups with costly medical problems or to workers with “pre-existing” medical conditions.

* The government would establish uniform nationwide billing and insurance procedures under which patients would be issued electronic cards that providers could use to file claims, verify coverage and bill customers.

* Congress would enact strict new controls to guard against fraud and abuse, including stiff penalties for patients and providers who are convicted of cheating the system.

* Medicaid and Medicare coverage for prescription drugs would be strengthened.

Stark’s Ways and Means health subcommittee is slated to begin drafting a bill June 30. It hopes to complete its work within a week and send the measure to the full Ways and Means Committee. The California congressman said the measure could be ready for floor action at the end of July.