The public health insurance option died on Thursday, December 10, 2009, after a months-long battle with Senate parliamentary procedure. The time of death was recorded as 11:12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
The public health insurance option died on Thursday, December 10, 2009, after a months-long struggle with Senate parliamentary procedure. The time of death was recorded as 11:12 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Its death had been rumored numerous times over the past year, but the public option repeatedly and defiantly battled back. The Senate's insistence on 60 votes, combined with President Obama's decision not to intervene on its behalf, eventually proved overwhelming.
The public option leaves behind a Medicare buy-in for people aged 55-64, an expansion of Medicaid, a quasi-public option for those under 300 percent of the poverty line and a collection of national private plans managed by the Office of Personnel Management.
The one remaining chance for the public option rested with the House somehow forcing its will on the Senate.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) pulled the final plug in a press briefing with reporters Thursday.
She had often said in the past that a health care bill without a public option simply wouldn't have the votes to pass the House. She was asked about that claim Thursday, in relation to the Senate compromise, and pointedly told reporters that any bill could pass as long as it met certain broad goals.
"Well, what I said was a two-part statement: The president has said, we believe, the House believes, that the public option is the best way to hold the insurance companies honest, keep them honest and also to increase competition. If you have a better way, put it on the table. When we see something from the Senate, we'll be able to make a judgment about that. But our standards are that we have affordability for the middle class, security for our seniors, closing the doughnut hole, sustaining the solvency of Medicare, responsibility to our children and not one dime added to the deficit. And accountability of the insurance companies," Pelosi said.
In the hallway outside the press briefing, Pelosi was asked about a Senate plan that would have the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) oversee national private plans instead of a public plan. "Let's see what it is. It might come as a surprise," she said. "We haven't seen the paper from the Senate. There is certainly a great deal of appeal about putting people 55 and older on Medicare. That's something people in the House have advocated for for years."
On Tuesday, passionate public-option backer Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) said he was happy with what he'd heard of the Senate deal.
"Now, I need more clarification of what the other plan is--the OPM plan--Office of Personnel Management," said Pelosi. "But we've also said, if you want something like what the members of Congress have, this might bear some resemblance to the federal employee plan. I don't know, because I haven't seen it and I don't like to comment on what I haven't seen."
No comments:
Post a Comment