WASHINGTON -- Health industry officials sought Monday to make good on a $2 trillion savings proposal announced with great fanfare at the White House, but they came up short by several hundred billion dollars.

Nevertheless, the officials claimed success in producing solid proposals in time for a deadline set by President Barack Obama after a White House photo op May 11 where they promised to curb their own costs to help his health care agenda.

Obama asked for a progress report by early June, and the five industry groups and one labor union delivered it on Monday. They sent the White House a letter along with a series of proposals that they said could total

$1 trillion to $1.7 trillion in savings over a decade.

The groups identified three big areas for savings: $150 billion to $180 billion from more-efficient use of health care services, $350 billion to $850 billion from better managing chronic diseases, and $500 billion to $700 billion through administrative improvements such as standardizing claim forms.

The groups -- insurers, doctors, hospitals, drug makers, medical device manufacturers and a leading health care union -- contended that the savings could be even bigger because they were conservative in their estimates. They did not attempt to measure how much of the savings would accrue to the federal government, rather than to the health care system as a whole.

That point was noted by critics because Obama needs government money to pay for extending health coverage to 50 million uninsured Americans, something that could cost $1.5 trillion over a decade. Congress is working hard on legislation to implement Obama's plans, but how to pay for it is emerging as a major sticking point.

"I don't see anything measurable or scoreable that's going to add a lot to the Democrats' ability to pay for health care reform," said Robert Laszewski, a former health insurance executive turned policy consultant.