Obama Health Care Plan Drops Public Option

[CLANG]

Source: Huffington Post

After a week when the public health insurance option gained serious momentum, President Obama decided not to include one of the most popular elements of reform in the plan he intends to present to a bipartisan group of lawmakers Thursday.

The Obama plan bridges differences between the Senate and House plans on issues both large and small, but when it comes to the public option -- the House bill includes one and the Senate's doesn't -- Obama is entirely silent.

Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that Obama would "absolutely" fight for a public option if Senate leadership decided to go for it. "f it's part of the decision of leadership to move forward, absolutely," Sebelius said. "The president said from the outset he thought that was a great way to provide cost reduction and competition moving forward, but if that is not the choice of the majority moving forward, I think there are other ways to get there."

Since then, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he would work with his colleagues to find the votes needed for it; Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.), the third ranking Democrat, pushed for it to be included; and Sen. Bob Menendez (N.J.), chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, joined in the call. (Follow the ongoing push for the public option here.)

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/obama-health-care-plan-dr_n_471320.html

[begin_within]

1. Well, then goodbye, Obama; goodbye Democratic majorities.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

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[Rosa Luxemburg]

28. The Senate needs to support a Public Option

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

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[bc3000]

51. What are you people talking about???

We all know that they can't pass a bill with the public option over the filibuster. We all know that they can't pass a big health care bill with reconciliation. So has something changed? If not, what are you people talking about? If I'm missing something, please let me know.

It seems to me that the only way to get this done is to pass a Health care bill without the public option, and then pass a public option in a separate bill via reconciliation. If this is the only way to do it, then what would Obama have to gain by including a public option in the main bill he is going to try to pass? We may not even have the 50 votes necessary to pass the public option via reconciliation much less 60 votes to pass a comprehensive bill with a public option.

I've been very critical of Obama's handling of health care, but let's not have a knee jerk reaction here without considering the facts.

[Mithreal]

53. More info about reconciliation

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The central figure in Congress’s struggle to craft health-care legislation may be someone who’s neither a Democratic nor Republican lawmaker, or an elected official of any kind. He’s Alan Frumin, Senate parliamentarian.

It’s a role the obscure official could assume if the Senate fails to reach a bipartisan deal on a health-care bill. Democratic leaders and President Barack Obama say they would prefer such an accord. If they can’t get it, they have signaled they will turn to the so-called reconciliation procedure to short-circuit Republican opposition.

That move would enable Senate Democrats to pass a bill with 51 votes, rather than the 60 typically needed for contentious legislation. Under Senate rules, it also would give Frumin, 62, broad authority to decide which portions of the Democrats’ bill are relevant to the budget and empower him to delete provisions he considers unrelated.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a5R5Kp1llkYk

[Mithreal]

54. Link to the summary of the President's plan.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/summary-presidents-proposal.pdf

[quiet.american]

7. Hardly. nt

[niyad]

2. you know, I wasn't aware that the word "bi-partisanship" meant screwing over the people who voted

for you, and giving the opposition every damned thing THEY want.


yet another in a long series of disappointments and betrayals.

[Echo In Light]

55. “The word bipartisan means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out.” - George Carlin

[DrDan]

3. well - only 77% of Americans want it . . . so not really worth fighting for

[Jim Sagle]

6. In reality Americans HATE THIS plan, or any plan without a public option.

But they'd LOVE a public option.

So I guess our geniuses in DC plan to withhold what's popular and shove the unpopular stuff down our throats.

[DrDan]

13. oops - the 77% I was referring to had to do with the PO

[Smashcut]

4. Uh oh...Message Discipline Team will have to switch gears yet again

Talk about being in the spin cycle

[closeupready]

8. If true, that is so messed up.

:mad:

[MarjorieG]

9. Although a long shot later, opening bid is meant to explain basic plan. Bet there will be discussion

of public option, publically, to lay groundwork should separate amendment gain. Does state exchange give states option of single-payer, without direct Kucinch amendment nullifying that barrier?

[BR_Parkway]

10. How do you drop something that wasn't in there in the first place?

[Jkid]

11. Obama Promised a Public Option in His Campagin.

Instead we get health insurance reform. Which solves nothing...

[pattmarty]

23. No, you will be getting something worse than the Senate bill, in a...............

........word, SHIT.

[DirkGently]

12. This issue could wreck everything

... literally. Nothing so epitomizes the failure of triangulation as a strategy. The opposition gets you to enact ineffective, or even harmful, initiatives, for which they can blame you, and which they can claim would have worked better if you had given in to them completely, your supporters feel betrayed, AND you appear weak.

The Republicans are laughing at this strategy. They weren't laughing at the prospect of passing a Public Option through reconciliation. WHY IS THAT, I wonder?

I believe in compromise and moderation. That is not what's happening here. This is a monolithic opposition determined to prevent anything good happening on the issue of healthcare reform, because the GOP thesis is that 1) our healthcare system is just great and 2) Obama and the Democrats can't do anything right.

Abandoning the Public Option / Medicare buy-in out of a misguided notion that this is just how the legislative sausage gets made is the wrong play on every conceivable level.

[Blue_Tires]

14. FACE SLAM DESK

[Bluebear]

57. careful, are you insured?

Can you believe this?

[dkf]

15. Well we will have to rely on reconciliation and our senators then

I'm curious if Obama would veto a public option.

[mvd]

42. I don't think he would veto it

I hope the lack of a public option is just because of the summit, where he hopes to at least appear bi-partisan. When the Repukes do as expected and say no to everything that disagrees with the Repukes, then I'm thinking the public option gains even more momentum.

[quiet.american]

16. May I suggest that those reading this thread also go over to WH.gov and read the info--

-- for yourselves. There's all kinds of summaries and analyses that only take a few minutes to read.

Although there is not a PUBLIC OPTION (government-offered health insurance), I like the President's Option better because it looks like MORE PEOPLE will have access to it, and it will provide the same competition that will lower premium rates:

It sets up a new competitive health insurance market giving tens of millions of Americans the exact same insurance choices that members of Congress will have.

No, it is not called a PUBLIC OPTION, but from looking it over, it serves the public as well as or better than the PUBLIC OPTION. I will just add that I called my senators and urged them to sign the letter for the public option, not so much because I think the public option is a better plan, but because so many seem to have tunnel vision for the PUBLIC OPTION, and I would have preferred it be included just to get over all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the public option, and let people move on to be able to see other items in the bills that will serve them well.

Please - go over to whitehouse.gov and look over the bill.

[goclark]

18. I had the sense to go over to the website and thank you

too bad others didn't ~

After reading the plan at the website :bouce:

[Mithreal]

40. -1

[DirkGently]

22. That's not the issue

... and the fact that no one really knows what the administration is backing at this point just underlines the problem here. The whole mess was tossed at Congress without any clear delineation of what we need, and a bill was permitted to arise that could do the opposite of what was intended.

If this "new competitive market" is what is really needed, why isn't the administration out there selling that, instead of permitting the Public Option to continue to be the most visible issue? Why raise it, and permit Democrats in Congress to raise it, and re-raise it, if it's not what the White House is really proposing? Where is the explanation that the "new competitive market" is a better choice for some reason? What do those words even mean?

All of this reads like an unrelenting determination not to commit to any idea, but rather for the adminstration to hang back, as it has been hanging back, to see what, if anything can get passed, and then to paint it like a victory. The problem is, if the Republicans agree to it, it's not going to be a victory, because it's not going to be any good, and will most likely strenghten the insurance industry's stranglehold to boot.

I'm really sorry to be saying this, but this sounds like the approach of a junior Senator, meekly proposing legislation and then waiting to see if it becomes politically viable enough on its own to then take credit for it. You can't do that with major change. You can't take that approach with a monolithic opposition party determined to prevent you from doing anything.

You can't be just a vote counter and lead the Democratic Party or the country.

[nashville_brook]

29. sadly, you're right on the mark here.

[Jefferson23]

37. Absolutely, and it is very telling that Obama is NOT

including a fight for repealing the health insurance industries' exemption from federal antitrust laws.

[Smashcut]

58. +1,000,000. You articulated it perfectly.

[leftstreet]

59. +1

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mithreal]

39. You have to be kidding.

Comprehensive public option open to everyone, yeah, Obama's plan sure looks better than that.

[Bluebear]

61. really.

[xsquid]

48. Before getting all happy about "the same insurance congress has",

will it help everyone? I have the same insurance congress has, I have the blue cross standard option. It costs me 400.00 a month premium for self and family, I also have medicare (plus medicare premium) for myself so with BOTH of those I am well covered with that 500.00 a month in premiums. But with a fixed income, or lower income that's not an insignificant amount for premiums and the last time I checked in this state you could get blue cross insurance (not through federal) for about 400. a month so it's roughly the same. The wife is only covered under Blue cross and with a 600.00 deductible she has never actually been covered in any of her visits (only a couple of times a year). I am not saying this will not help anyone at all, but some still won't be able to afford it. With the way the premiums keep jumping up and coverage less I don't know how long I will be able to.

[Coyote_Bandit]

17. Obama?

Seriously, who cares? He's making himself a lame duck.

We have a sitting Dem President with majorities in both the House and the Senate. There is no acceptable explanation as to why they cannot deliver meaningful healthcare reform. Healthcare reform not fucking insurance reform. Reform which the majority of Americans support. There are really only a few explanations: (1) the President and Congress are exploiting the healthcare reform debate for political purposes without any princippled commitment to actually delivering the goods; (2) Dem party leaders - including the President - lack the leadership and political skills to deliver the goods; (3) Dem party leaders - again including the President - prefer to serve the interests of the helathcare industry and the corporate supporters who finance their campaigns rather than flesh and blood citizens; and (4) Dem party leaders - specifically including the President - lack the personal guts and courage to fight for meaningful healthcare reform.

Obama has reveled himself to be anything but progressive. He does not serve to advance or protect my needs and interests. Not even the most basic needs of physical survival. Time for him to be retired. No way in hell I'm voting for him next time his name appears on my ballot. I'll vote for a hopefully more progressive Dem opponent or maybe a progressive third party candidate. Or maybe I just won't vote. No more voting for the "best" of two bad candidates. Fuck him. There is no difference between a Dem that does not serve to advance and protect my needs and interests and a Puke that does likewise.

I expect Dems to lose their Senate majority in the next elections - and likely their House majority as well. I do not expect Obama to be re-elected to serve a second term and I expect his term in office to be remembered historically as a lost opportunity. Pity that. But he apparently is not up to the job for whatever reason. And we the voters once again were duped into choosing style over substance. There were better and more progressive Dem candidates who could have prevailed over McCain in the general election.

[Jim Sagle]

21. Or option 5): Obama is a troll President - a Republican agent.

[pattmarty]

25. My thoughts exactly.

[Mithreal]

41. Obama is working damn hard not to deliver.

[Trillo]

50. There's a possible variant on option 3

You wrote "prefers". While the word at some level may fit, I wonder if a closer word would be "forced."

This seems to be a bill that "forces" us to buy private health insurance. If life is little more than folks mirroring themselves to us, then perhaps what they're really saying is that as legislators they have no choice. If so, then what explains their own lack of choice?

[pleah]

19. Here is a link to a comparison chart to the house and senate versions.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2010/02/how-the-white-house-health-plan-compares.php

[Demeter]

20. Boy, That Didn't Take Any Time at All

Maybe Obama ought to go into legerdemain, instead of politics. His hand is quicker than the public eye.

Of course, such a limp wrist would be a handicap...in any field.

[Better Believe It]

24. What kind of a public option do we need and want? Would a "bare bones" one be acceptable?

Lots of things hav been called a public option, including a "bare bones" public insurance plan that would only be open to a few million people.

[Mithreal]

43. If you can't get it, it is not an option.

[Pharaoh]

26. K&R

[Jefferson23]

27. So this is Obama's way of keeping his bi-partisan hat on when

and if, (big IF) there is a robust public option included? Or does this help him tell the health insurance industry, hey, it wasn't my fault.

And WHY does this man not at least fight for repealing the health insurance industries' exemption from federal antitrust laws!!!!!!!!!!

Which was supported by the Consumer Federation of America, the American Hospital Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the
American Dental Association. Attorney Generals from 10 states gave strong support for it.

I am sick of his bullshit attempts, he is suppose to get out in front and fight like HELL for Americans.

[thereismore]

30. Just when support from him could get it passed in the Senate, he says: Fuck this. nt

[SlingBlade]

32. Huh. Imagine That. Looks like Obama is on that "Change" ...

Thingy again.
All of this Reconciliation talk has spurred his ass into some serious action here.

[Demeter]

35. It Must Be Some Bizarre Form of Male Menopause

because no other explanation for such formless flailing exists.

[SlingBlade]

36. Well, Some call it Corporatism, I just call it Bull Shit.

[Demeter]

45. Fair Enough

[notesdev]

33. Getting down to brass tacks

We see what this 'health care reform' effort is really about.

It does nothing to bring down health care costs, the obstensible objective of the entire enterprise.

It does nothing to actually cover anybody, it just fines people who aren't covered... as if people who already can't afford health care can now afford an arbitrary fine.

[Trillo]

47. One wonders where on the progressive/regressive scale

a "fine" lies. I'd guess it would be in the same general category as a user fee, and if so, more regressive than a sales tax.

It is sad that with no public option and a mandate to purchase from a private company, precedent would be created to force people to purchase private corporations' products. This certainly runs counter to the idea of a "free market", which seems to be the basis for the health insurance Exchange.

It certainly seems to be another financial grab from the poor.

[Bette Noir]

38. He's still courting Republican votes. What a shame.

Obama looked smarter than that. In fact, I seem to remember his saying, after the first time all his sweet talk and compromise failed to get a single Republican vote, "I am not a chump." Unfortunately, he is showing himself to be exactly that-- a chump.

The Senate and House, working together, can get health care done, with a public option in it. Momentum for that built strongly last week. All we need from Obama is a signature.

[Mithreal]

46. 8 years of Chimp, now Chump when we really need a Champ?

The people are marching, protesting, phoning, writing, never quitting, pushing the debate, but these Dems won't be led and won't lead with the usual exceptions and a few surprises.

President Obama is letting Republicans stall our government, giving them the power, asking them how to govern like he could shame them. I didn't send Obama to DC to ask Republicans for permission or how to govern. I see another disappointing year.

[JCMach1]

44. Give away the house before you start negotiating even...

:wtf:

[Vidar]

49. He's becoming more & more worthless.

[emilyg]

52. Amen.

[Echo In Light]

56. ...or is revealing *why* Dems were allowed election "victory"

[c brand]

60. It's clear Obama has a pathological need for approval from his sworn enemies!!

[Echo In Light]

62. ...or is simply fulfilling the role his admin was installed to do

[Mithreal]

63. Hard to believe there is one of these ops still active

Mods have been locking every other.

[Faryn Balyncd]

64. Pogo nailed it.