Democrats Schumer, Brown Trumpet Merits Of Public Option

By John DuBois - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

During a news conference on Wednesday, Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) expressed their belief that a public option insurance plan would create competition in the marketplace and would lower healthcare costs for Americans.

Liberal Democrats, like Brown and Schumer, who support the public option have argued that the plan would help small businesses stay in business and provide health insurance for their employees.

Said Schumer, “Small businesses want to provide the coverage. They know it’s good for their workers, good for morale and good for keeping. They just can’t afford [health insurance] any longer and that’s why we need a public option.”

Brown argued that,“the public option will not use pre-existing conditions, [it] won't discriminate against women who have had c-sections or women who have been victims of domestic violence and call that a pre-existing condition.”

“We are changing the rules, we are also going to have the public option there to help those small businesses to compete to keep prices down,” he added.

Republican Leaders Say "No" To Public Option

By Leah Valencia - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) spoke out against a public option Wednesday saying that a government-owned and operated insurance plan would create debt and put private insurers out of business.

“It is not a time for a trillion dollar experiment in government health care, now is a time to buckle down financially and to find common sense reforms in the areas of health care,” McConnell said.

He said that including a public option, or government-run health insurance plan, will make it impossible for private insurers to compete.

“The option [Democrats] are advocating will soon be the only option, the others will simply fade away,” McConnell said. “Private health plans would fade away because a government-run plan would use the deep pockets of the federal government to set artificially low prices.”

Republican opposition to healthcare reform has stiffened since Monday when Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that the Senate health care bill would include a public option with an opt-out provision.

GOP leaders have said they will filibuster the bill, leaving Democrats with the challenge of coming up with 60 votes.

Democrats In House, Senate Claim Competition Essential To Driving Down Health Costs

By Ravi Bhatia, Talk Radio News Service

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Or.) and Reps. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) and Jim Cooper (D-Tn.) said Tuesday that infusing the health insurance market with competition would be the best way to bring down health care costs for most Americans.

“We’ve got to open up the exchanges to a broader array of people, both employers and employees,” Wyden said at a panel discussion hosted by The New Republic magazine. “That’s how we’re going to respond to people making $66,000 a year who are going to look at the [Senate] Finance Committee Bill and say that it’s not going work for [their families].”

The discussion occurred the day after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that the current draft of the health care bill will include a public option with an opt-out provision for individual states. In theory, giving Americans the option to choose a government-run health care plan would drive down the costs of private insurers by creating competition. The Health Care Exchange would allow those who already have insurance to upgrade to better plans then the ones they already have using the program, further encouraging insurance companies to lower prices and raise their coverage quality standards.

“As these bills are being drafted, only ten percent of the people in America will ever be allowed to shop for any option, whether it's public or private,” Cooper said. “In other words 90 percent will be stuck with what they’ve got. So why don’t we allow people to upgrade to get a better deal?”

Cooper added, “As far as the public option is concerned, I’m for one, we can have a good one, we can have one that’s affordable for the individual family and for the system as a whole, but all this effort is for naught if we can’t get 60 votes in the Senate.”

On Tuesday, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who is often considered the one Republican who might vote in favor of health care reform legislation, responded to Reid’s announcement, saying that she would not support a bill that includes a public option. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) also announced Tuesday that he would block Reid’s plan as long as it includes a publicly funded insurance plan.

According to House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House may introduce their health care bill by the end of this week.

Hoyer: House Health Care Bill Could Be Rolled Out This Week

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters Tuesday that there is a possibility the House will introduce its health care bill by the end of this week.

“That’s our objective because we want to consider this bill next week. And we’ve pledged to give 72 hours notice so we need to roll out the bill this week,” Hoyer said.

Regarding the inclusion of a public option in the bill, Hoyer said he still believes the tax-payer funded insurance plan is critically important to bring health care prices down and to ensure access for all Americans, but added it is "just one component of a very comprehensive bill.”

Hoyer also said that he is pleased with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) announcement yesterday that the Senate bill will contain an opt-out version of the public option plan.

“I think our bill will be somewhat different on public option, but we are very pleased that Senator Reid is now talking about a form of public option,” Hoyer said.

Reid Pushes Public Option, Ability To Opt-Out

Justin Duckham-Talk Radio News Service

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced Monday that the public option, saddled with a provision that will allow states to individually opt-out, will be included in the final draft of the Senate’s health care reform legislation.

“Under this concept states will be able to determine if the public option works well for them,” Reid said during a late afternoon press conference. “It’s the fairest way to go”

The Senate Majority Leader added that states will have until 2014 to opt-out. Reid noted that there will be plans for a non-profit insurance cooperative in the legislation, but did not provide further comment.

Reid stated that he will not be submitting a “trigger option,” or a mechanism that would launch the public option only if health care providers fail to make essential reforms, for scoring through the Congressional budget office. The “trigger” was heavily supported by Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the only Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to vote in favor of moving the legislation out of committee.

Reid responded to the possible alienation of Snowe, lamenting the lack of moderate Republicans in the Senate.

“I’m always looking for Republicans. We looked for Republicans on this,” Reid said. “It’s a little hard to find them. We’ve had to do a lot of this on our own.”

Reid quipped that he could count the number of moderate Republicans among his colleagues on two fingers.

There have been doubts in recent weeks over whether the public option would be included in the Senate’s legislation, with many believing the taxpayer-funded insurance plan would only be in the House bill. Now, as reports arise charging that the House will not have enough votes to pass legislation with the public option, the tables seem to have turned.

Still, during a press conference last Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) appeared far from willing to admit defeat over the inclusion of the controversial plan.

“By no means is the [vote] count complete or has any decision been made,” Pelosi told reporters. “At the end of the day we will have a public option in our legislation.”