(Speaker Nancy Pelsoi calls the proposal of a "trigger" for a Public Health Care Option, an excuse for not doing anything, and stands by the Public Option as the best cost-saving plan for Americans.)
Progressives Push Pelosi On Public Option
Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus met with House Democratic leaders Thursday afternoon to reiterate their commitment to a strong public option tied to Medicare reimbursement rates.
In her weekly press briefing Thursday morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said she still personally supports the "robust" option but did not commit to its inclusion in the final bill. "We don't intend to move forward without a public option in our bill," Pelosi said. "What form that will take, I don't know."
The progressive caucus has been whipping its members to find out how committed the bloc is to oppose any bill without a public option tied to Medicare reimbursement rates. CPC leaders delivered the tally, which co-chair Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) described as "significant," to leadership at the meeting. Co-chair Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.) said "the great majority of our caucus" stands behind a public plan that would reimburse at a rate 5 percent above Medicare, rather than a public option that must negotiate with insurers on its own. "We're not on negotiated rates," Woolsey said.
Progressives said they believe their position is pretty clear. "We're just reaffirming what we say over and over again," Grijalva said. "We plan on Medicare plus five. There's a great deal of caucus support for it. They asked us to do this count, and we provided it."
The discussion didn't end there, however. "No decision's been made," said Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), a CPC member himself and chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, who had to bargain with conservative Blue Dog Democrats on his committee for a weaker public option with negotiated rates. Woolsey said she hopes to see a draft of the final House bill coalesce next week, but Progressive Reps. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the latter of whom co-chairs the leadership steering committee, said no dates are certain. "They're not at that point," Waters said.
In the meantime, some members are looking at a proposal from Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) for state-run public plans. Given that the federal health reforms on the table wouldn't take effect until 2013, "I've just been saying that I think we ought to be doing some pilots in that three-year period in order to see what best practices can be developed," Clyburn said, claiming that he's heard "a lot of receptivity" among Congressional Democrats.
Progressives told the Huffington Post they were somewhat skeptical of Clyburn's proposal -- and a similar one offered by Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) -- but many said they'd reserve judgment until they saw more details. "People are going to try to ferret out how it could work," DeLauro said. Single-payer crusader Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) said he'd consider supporting any amendment that strengthens the ability of states to create a single-payer system, but he was unsure whether or not state-run public options would do so.
Clyburn said he has not asked the White House to opine on a state-run public option proposal. "That's not my job," he said.
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said she expects President Obama to join Pelosi in pushing for cost reduction. "I feel confident that the White House will weigh in on a bill that makes health care affordable for the middle class," she said. "That's the Speaker's litmus test, I think that'll be his litmus test, and he will weigh in."
Pelosi shoots down Public Option "trigger"
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday shot down a healthcare compromise that has been viewed as the best chance for getting a bipartisan bill through the Senate.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) rejected the idea of a “trigger” for a public option. That means that the government-run healthcare plan would be a fallback option, enacted only if other reforms didn’t make healthcare more accessible.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), who is being courted by the Obama administration as their best hope for getting a Republican to sign on to President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiative, supports a trigger. But Pelosi does not.
“I don't even want to talk about a trigger,” Pelosi said at her weekly press conference. She said the “attitude” of her fellow Democrats is that “a trigger is an excuse for not doing anything.”
By dismissing a trigger, she also risks further alienating Blue Dog Democrats, who are angry at Pelosi's handling of the bill, particularly her push to include a public option supported by the liberal wing of the caucus. Blue Dogs at times have threatened to block the bill.
Pelosi spoke after a caucus meeting Thursday morning at which outside experts talked to members about the public option, and health “co-operatives.”
Co-operatives, which would be run by members, not the government, are a popular idea in the Senate, and with some centrist Blue Dog Democrats.
Pelosi told her fellow leaders last week that she planned to write a bill that includes a public option tied to Medicare rates, pulling back from a deal she and other leaders had cut with a group of Blue Dog Democrats in July. She also said she wanted the bill to include an income surtax on the wealthy to help pay the cost.
But she backed off that position in meetings this week, saying she will leave those decisions to the caucus.
Sources: Huffington Post, The Hill, House.gov, Youtube
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