60 House Democrats: No Public Option, No Health Insurance Reform
Wednesday Aug 19, 200960 House Democrats: No Public Option, No Health Insurance Reform in Politics and Legislation
On Monday, we
blogged about the White House’s recent backpedaling on the public option.
Well, the House Democrats are not having it. In a letter to health and human
services secretary Kathleen Sebelius, five dozen House liberals made their
opinion known:
Dear Secretary Sebelius,
We write to you concerning your recent comments
about the public option in health insurance
reform.
We stand in strong opposition to your statement
that the public option is “not the essential element” of comprehensive reform.
The opportunity to improve access to healthcare is a one-time opportunity.
Americans deserve reform that is real — not smoke and mirrors. We cannot rely
solely on the insurance companies’ good faith efforts to provide for our
constituents. A robust public option is essential, if we are to ensure that all
Americans can receive healthcare that is accessible, guaranteed and of high quality.
To take the public option off the table would be a
grave error; passage in the House of Representatives depends upon inclusion of
it.
We have attached, for your review, a letter from 60
members of Congress who are firm in their position that any legislation that
moves forward through both chambers, and into a final proposal for the
President’s signature, MUST contain a public option.
Meanwhile, back in the Senate, opposition is also strong. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV declared the public option "a must." Senator Russell Feingold said that "without a public option, I don't see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it."
The White House’s attempt to open a backdoor on the public plan is starting to look like a miscalculation. By our count, it could cost the bill as many as 100 votes in the chamber.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Obama administration weighs this one. On one hand, they will lose serious credibility with their core constituents if they drop the public plan. On the other hand, the president has staked a lot on passing health care reform at all.
A stalemate could set a tone that disempowers the rest of his presidency and, in the worst-case scenario, make Senator DeMint’s Waterloo comment a reality.
