Feb 17 2010
Four Senate Democrats are asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to revisit a plan for a government run health plan, or public option, in the health care overhaul legislation.
The Hill reports that Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Kristen Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio; sent a letter to Reid Tuesday asking for reconsideration of the plan. Bennet "called on Reid to reintroduce the public option into the healthcare debate through the budget reconciliation process, which would short-circuit filibuster rules and allow Democrats to pass a bill with a simple majority in the Senate. … Over 100 House Democrats have signed onto a drive similar to Bennet's, calling for that sidecar bill to include provisions reestablishing the public option." Reid took the public insurance option out of the Senate's bill "after it became clear that he wouldn't be able to muster the necessary 60 votes to pass a bill including the measure" in the normal legislative process (O'Brien, 2/16).
Politico's Live Pulse blog reports that Bennet and Gillibrand are in tough re-election battles and the "senators have made the calculation that the public option is popular with Democrats, and the absence of one in the final bill is one reason that voters are unenthusiastic about it." Politico also reports on the particulars of the letter: "'Although we strongly support the important reforms made by the Senate-passed health reform package, including a strong public option would improve both its substance and the public's perception of it,' the letter stated. … In the letter, the senators argue reconciliation has been used to enact significant health legislation, including the Children's Health Insurance Plan." The senators cited cost savings, increased competition and lower costs as reasons they support the public plan (Budoff Brown, 2/16).
The Washington Independent has more on the letter: "The Senate has an obligation to reform our unworkable health insurance market — both to reduce costs and to give consumers more choices. A strong public option is the best way to deliver on both of these goals, and we urge its consideration under reconciliation rules," the senators wrote (Lillis, 2/16).
 This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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