Donger
08-18-2009, 01:25 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20090818/pl_bloomberg/a4u0_7_zceme;_ylt=Ahg4VyJ4HljfuPJm2Ulzqpas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTMydGhnZ25vBGFzc2V0A2Jsb29tYmVyZy8yMDA5MDgx OC9hNHUwXzdfemNlbWUEY3BvcwMzBHBvcwMxMgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDZGVtc2RlbWFuZG9i
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is facing pressure from fellow Democrats to keep a government-run insurance plan in a health-care overhaul, with House lawmakers threatening to withhold support without it.
“To take the public option off the table would be a grave error,” leaders of the 83-member Congressional Progressive Caucus said in a letter last night to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Passage in the House of Representatives depends upon inclusion of it.”
The Democratic lawmakers also attached a July 30 letter from 60 party members to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that said any legislation that didn’t contain a government plan was “unacceptable.”
Sebelius sparked the response after she suggested on Aug. 16 that Obama may be willing to back down from including a federal insurance plan in a U.S. health-care revamp.
“We stand in strong opposition to your statement that the public option is ‘not the essential element’ of comprehensive reform,” read the letter to Sebelius, signed by Representatives Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Lynn Woolsey of California, who co-chair the progressive caucus, and Barbara Lee of California, who heads the Congressional Black Caucus.
‘Best Option’
Yesterday, Pelosi, also a California Democrat, said a government-run plan “is the best option to lower costs, improve the quality of health care, ensure choice and expand coverage.”
Republicans and some Democrats oppose the creation of a federal plan, saying it would undercut private insurers and give the government too great a role in health care. Lawmakers have fielded questions on the topic from constituents at town- hall meetings throughout the nation during their August recess. Legislation approved by three House committees and one Senate panel includes a government-run health plan.
Sebelius suggested on Sunday the administration may be retreating from the plan, saying that providing citizens with the alternative of government-run insurance isn’t vital to the health-care overhaul.
“What’s important is choice and competition,” Sebelius said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The public option itself “is not the essential element.”
Position Unchanged
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration’s position is unchanged and that media stories were an “overreaction” to what Sebelius said.
Obama would like to include a government-run program as an option for consumers, Gibbs told reporters today. He said the administration supports “choice and competition,” adding that “we’ve been boringly consistent.”
Sebelius echoed those remarks today, saying in a speech in Washington that “Sunday must have been a very slow news day” because nothing has changed in the administration’s position.
For Obama, the support of centrist Democrats in the Senate as well as a group of House lawmakers who have raised concerns about the $1 trillion cost of the overhaul is crucial. Yet he risks losing members of his party who advocate for a strong public plan.
“This is very much a thread-the-needle kind of legislative process,” said Democratic consultant Peter Fenn. “There are a lot of people who are going to be very disappointed if it turns out this doesn’t have a public option.”
Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said a public plan “is the only proven way to guarantee that all consumers have affordable, meaningful and accountable options.”
‘Deal-Breaker’
Omitting the government plan “is a deal-breaker for many Democrats,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report in Washington.
The administration wants to “find a way to say that they will support a public option at some point and bring the Democratic base along with them,” Rothenberg said.
While Obama has made the public option a central component of an overhaul, he said in a town-hall meeting last week that it “is not the entirety of health-care reform.”
He has asked Congress to complete action this year on a medical-care plan that would expand coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and curb health costs that make up about a sixth of the nation’s economy. Polls show Americans increasingly disapprove of the legislation.
Easier to Compromise
Still, Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said the flap may give Obama room to maneuver.
“This may make compromise a lot easier than a month or two months ago,” Cook said. “The silver lining of the town- meeting food fights is that many liberals now have a sense of the difficulty, the political pushback that a public option and other ambitious aspects create.”
As one alternative, the Senate Finance Committee is discussing cooperatives, or networks of health-insurance plans owned by their customers, that would get started with government funds as an alternative to the public plan.
Aug. 18 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is facing pressure from fellow Democrats to keep a government-run insurance plan in a health-care overhaul, with House lawmakers threatening to withhold support without it.
“To take the public option off the table would be a grave error,” leaders of the 83-member Congressional Progressive Caucus said in a letter last night to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Passage in the House of Representatives depends upon inclusion of it.”
The Democratic lawmakers also attached a July 30 letter from 60 party members to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that said any legislation that didn’t contain a government plan was “unacceptable.”
Sebelius sparked the response after she suggested on Aug. 16 that Obama may be willing to back down from including a federal insurance plan in a U.S. health-care revamp.
“We stand in strong opposition to your statement that the public option is ‘not the essential element’ of comprehensive reform,” read the letter to Sebelius, signed by Representatives Raul Grijalva of Arizona and Lynn Woolsey of California, who co-chair the progressive caucus, and Barbara Lee of California, who heads the Congressional Black Caucus.
‘Best Option’
Yesterday, Pelosi, also a California Democrat, said a government-run plan “is the best option to lower costs, improve the quality of health care, ensure choice and expand coverage.”
Republicans and some Democrats oppose the creation of a federal plan, saying it would undercut private insurers and give the government too great a role in health care. Lawmakers have fielded questions on the topic from constituents at town- hall meetings throughout the nation during their August recess. Legislation approved by three House committees and one Senate panel includes a government-run health plan.
Sebelius suggested on Sunday the administration may be retreating from the plan, saying that providing citizens with the alternative of government-run insurance isn’t vital to the health-care overhaul.
“What’s important is choice and competition,” Sebelius said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The public option itself “is not the essential element.”
Position Unchanged
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration’s position is unchanged and that media stories were an “overreaction” to what Sebelius said.
Obama would like to include a government-run program as an option for consumers, Gibbs told reporters today. He said the administration supports “choice and competition,” adding that “we’ve been boringly consistent.”
Sebelius echoed those remarks today, saying in a speech in Washington that “Sunday must have been a very slow news day” because nothing has changed in the administration’s position.
For Obama, the support of centrist Democrats in the Senate as well as a group of House lawmakers who have raised concerns about the $1 trillion cost of the overhaul is crucial. Yet he risks losing members of his party who advocate for a strong public plan.
“This is very much a thread-the-needle kind of legislative process,” said Democratic consultant Peter Fenn. “There are a lot of people who are going to be very disappointed if it turns out this doesn’t have a public option.”
Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said a public plan “is the only proven way to guarantee that all consumers have affordable, meaningful and accountable options.”
‘Deal-Breaker’
Omitting the government plan “is a deal-breaker for many Democrats,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report in Washington.
The administration wants to “find a way to say that they will support a public option at some point and bring the Democratic base along with them,” Rothenberg said.
While Obama has made the public option a central component of an overhaul, he said in a town-hall meeting last week that it “is not the entirety of health-care reform.”
He has asked Congress to complete action this year on a medical-care plan that would expand coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and curb health costs that make up about a sixth of the nation’s economy. Polls show Americans increasingly disapprove of the legislation.
Easier to Compromise
Still, Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said the flap may give Obama room to maneuver.
“This may make compromise a lot easier than a month or two months ago,” Cook said. “The silver lining of the town- meeting food fights is that many liberals now have a sense of the difficulty, the political pushback that a public option and other ambitious aspects create.”
As one alternative, the Senate Finance Committee is discussing cooperatives, or networks of health-insurance plans owned by their customers, that would get started with government funds as an alternative to the public plan.