Blog - Articles Tagged 'Public option'

Before President Obama can sign a final bill into law, both the Senate and the House need to pass the same exact version of the bill. So how do we get from two bills that are worlds apart on major issues to a single bill that both chambers can agree on?

With four conservative Democrats threatening to filibuster the health care bill if it includes a public option, Senate Democrats are trying to find a way to water down the public option far enough that the four and perhaps even a couple of Republicans will support it, but not so far that too many progressives join a filibuster from the other side.

Today begins the 111th Congress' biggest week yet. Two of President Obama's most significant domestic priorities -- health care reform (H.R. 3590) and overhauling regulations in the financial sector (H.R. 4137) -- will see action on the floors of the House and the Senate.

With pro-choice, anti-public option Sen. Olympia Snowe [R, ME] wielding heavy influence in the Senate's health care negotiations, a trade-off of the House bill's provisions seems likely.

On Thursday morning, Democratic leaders will unveil the final version of the health care legislation that be voted on by the full House during the week of Novemember 2nd. UPDATE: And here it is:

H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act

The Hill's Briefing Blog catches this NPR interview with Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) where the senator blasts the public option:

Negotiators in both the Senate and the House are looking to finalize health care legislation this week so they can get official budget scores and bring the bills to the floor for debate and votes. Click through for more on the state of the negotiations as well as complete lists of all the bills that will be coming up for votes this week.

In the continuing health care debate the public option remains as the key puzzle piece in the Democrats' health care package. Today, the Senate Finance Committee is debating and voting on amendments to include a public option in their version of health care reform legislation.

Here's the full text of the amendment from Sen. Jay Rockefeller [D, WV] to add a public option to the Baucus health care bill that is being debated right now.

With a full plate of 564 pending amendments, Sen. Max Baucus [D, MT] will take his health care bill to the full Senate Finance Committee this week to begin the actual process of debating and voting. This week's committee markup is the Senate's best chance for finding a bipartisan compromise on a health care bill that can pass under regular procedure.

Yesterday, Sen. Blanche Lincoln [D, AR] became the first Democrat in the Senate to say flatly that she would vote against a health care bill that includes a public health insurance option.

Appearing on CNBC, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz [D, FL-20] said, without reservation, that she would give up the health insurance she is given as a member of Congress and enroll in the public option.

It's sounding likely. The Democrats think they have at least one Republican in the Senate willing to support a healthcare bill containing some form of a public option. On the House side, one Republican has already said that he is leaning yes on the bill.

The public option, a proposed government-run health insurance option to compete with the private sector, was dealt a series of blows from Administration officials and the President himself over the weekend.

One of President Obama's key allies in the Senate said on Sunday that, although he supports the public option, he has not ruled out passing a health care bill that does not include it.