A key item in the debates following lawmakers home this month is whether to create a public plan, the Washington Post reports.
Republicans and some industry groups oppose it, but the more pressing debate is between Democrats: "Even if one believes the public option is a good thing, should reformers stake everything on its inclusion [in a final reform bill]?"
Among the key Democrats on the Senate Finance committee and progressive think-tankers, support for the concept of a government-run plan varies widely. A lack of consensus within the party could be the plans downfall, the Post reports.
The senators:
- Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee's chairman, says Democrats have to give up the plan to pass the bill.
- Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., has suggested creating insurance "co-ops" instead that citizens would own, and says the "hard reality is" that the public plan wouldn't clear a Senate vote.
- Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., continued to call for a "strong counterbalance" to a "rapacious" insurance industry.
The think-tankers: