Lawmakers could agree on healthcare cost savings

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus on Thursday said Republicans and Democrats are not that far apart when it comes to ways to control soaring U.S. healthcare costs.

Speaking at the White House healthcare summit, Baucus said lawmakers were "on the verge of bridging a lot of gaps."

Baucus, who failed at an attempt to write a bipartisan healthcare reform bill last year, said the two parties shared many of the same ideas about encouraging healthy lifestyles and improving the quality of care. Other issues such as a Republican proposal to encourage health care savings accounts need work to ensure lower income people could benefit from such a program, he said.

(Reporting by Donna Smith; editing by Anthony Boadle)