{"id":184,"date":"2009-10-27T00:44:00","date_gmt":"2009-10-27T08:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=184"},"modified":"2009-10-27T00:44:00","modified_gmt":"2009-10-27T08:44:00","slug":"public-option-improvements-needed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/27\/public-option-improvements-needed\/","title":{"rendered":"Public Option: Improvements Needed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Reid demonstrated that his own voters  can cow him more than the GOP.  Progressive pressure has paid off.<\/p>\n

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\"insurancecare\"<\/a> Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, long a target for the ire of progressives given his reluctance to express support for including a public health-insurance plan in the Senate’s health-care reform bill, today surprised reporters with his announcement that the final Senate bill will contain a public option.<\/font><\/p>\n

States will be permitted to opt out of the plan via their state’s legislative process — an escape clause, if you will, for a handful of Democratic senators who are less than keen on the notion of a public plan.<\/font><\/p>\n

"I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system," Reid said, "will protect consumers, keep insurers honest, and ensure competition. And that’s why we intend to include it in the bill will be submitted to the Senate."<\/font><\/p>\n

Reid has been under relentless pressure from progressives to craft a bill containing a public insurance plan just as he gears up for what is expected to be a tough re-election campaign for 2010<\/strong>. Just last week, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee launched a television ad targeting Reid that asked, "Is Harry Reid strong enough?"<\/font><\/p>\n

Most striking is that Reid’s decision to include the public option assures the lack of a single Republican vote for health-care reform in the Senate, despite months of wrangling to get at least one — that of Maine’s Olympia Snowe… [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <Alternet<\/a>><\/p>\n

This surprised me.  I was hearing that Obama wanted to cave-in to Queen Olympia.  I\u2019m glad it worked out this way.  As far as I\u2019m concerned, Snowe can take a long flying #&%* off a short pier.  So how did we come from about to cave in to here?<\/p>\n

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\"chuckschumer\"<\/a> This evening I spoke with Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who was in that infamous Thursday night meeting with President Obama and other Senate leaders–and who has been one of the most persistent advocates of a public option on Capitol Hill. As Schumer explains it, the disagreement between the White House and Senate wasn’t substantive so much as it was tactical: The White House had its doubts that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could really get 60 votes for a public option with an opt out for states<\/strong>.<\/font><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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"The President listened very carefully," Schumer said in an interview moments ago. "He wanted to make sure that the strategy upon which we were embarking had the ability to carry through."<\/font><\/p>\n

Schumer has been at the center of the fight over the public option from the earliest days of the health care debate–always there to pull it back from the brink when it at times seemed on the verge of collapse. This situation was no different. After the Thursday meeting, four sources in different Democratic offices told me that the White House had suggested they believed a strategy of pursuing Sen. Olympia Snowe’s preferred compromise–a triggered public option–might be an easier path to 60 votes. In the end, though, Schumer and the rest of leadership seem to have prevailed upon President Obama that they’ve picked the right strategy. <\/font><\/p>\n

"I think substantively the White House probably preferred a stronger public option than a trigger," Schumer said. "We talked about this for a while in leadership and the White House wanted to hear our thoughts–and when they heard them they thought that this was the right strategy to get our caucus together."<\/font><\/p>\n

Today, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the President stands behind Reid as he builds support for the public plan\u2026 [emphasis added<\/em>]<\/font><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Inserted from <TPM<\/a>><\/p>\n

To be honest, this plan is not everything we wanted, but it\u2019s better than nothing.  However, there are several things that can be improved.  First, this bill has no restrictions against insurance companies raising rates based on age.  For the rest, Rachel Maddow interviewed my Senator, Ron Wyden.  Here it is:<\/p>\n