Via the White House blog, spokesman Dan Pfeiffer has just released a statement about the summit. It talks about the meaningful discussion and the common ground explored. But if you're looking for hints as to what the White House will do next, pay attention to last three paragraphs:
There was a fundamental disagreement about whether we should set some common sense rules of the road to protect American families and small businesses from insurance company abuses. The President doesn’t believe we can afford to leave those decisions about your care to the insurers alone.
The President believes that a problem this big cannot be addressed incrementally. And while insuring 30 million people is going to cost money, it’s important to remember that most of this money is going to tax credits that will reduce premiums and help people get better coverage.
And while the President appreciated the participation and input of everyone today, he doesn’t think we can just scrap a year’s worth of work and start over. The millions of Americans that are suffering can’t afford another year-long debate. There’s too much at stake.
If Obama is ready to give up on comprehensive reform, he has a very funny way of showing it.