Health Care Debate Directed at Public Option
President Backs Off in Face of Town Hall Reactions
In the aftermath of contentious town hall meetings, President Obama has backed off the concept of a government–run public health insurance option.
President Obama’s Position on the Public Option
“The public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it,” the President said on video during NBC’s Today.
Funding for Health Care Reform
During his trip to Montana and Colorado, President Obama was confronted with skepticism and tough questions, unlike the amicable gatherings at New Hampshire town halls. The President faced accusations of changing his strategy to claims that he can’t tell Americans how he plans to pay for health care. President Obama continued to defend health care reform saying that it will control costs, make Medicare more efficient and give choices to those without health insurance.
“…and we will do all of this without adding to our deficit over the next decade, largely by cutting waste and ending sweetheart deals for insurance companies that don’t make anybody any healthier,” said President Obama.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebilius supported the President’s comments.
“I think what’s important is choice and competition and I’m convinced at the end of the day the plan will have both of those, but that is not the essential element,” Sebilius said.
Without the Public Option
An alternative to the public option is a CO-OP, a government-influenced but not run insurance plan authored by North Dakota Democrat Ken Conrad.
"The fact of the matter is there are not the votes in the United States Senate for a public option. There never have been," Conrad told FOX News.
“To continue to chase that rabbit, I think, is just a wasted effort,” Conrad concluded
Chuck Todd of NBC reported that the Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina tried to reassure progressive liberals, activists, who are upset over the Administration’s shift. An email to them read, “nothing has changed, the president has always said what is essential is healthcare must lower costs and ensure that there are affordable options for all Americans.”
With the Public Opinion
The Week: Best Opinion begins with Alan Colmes in Liberland saying that abandoning the government-run public option to private insurance is not “compromise” —the public option itself was a compromise on single-payer health care—it’s Obama and the Democrats letting the GOP and conservative Blue Dog Democrats “railroad them.”
“Don’t believe it,” cautions conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, calling it “a trial balloon to measure the potential nutroots backlash versus the potential Senate pick-ups.”
The public option is probably “really dead,” said Nate Silver in FiveThirtyEight. Rather, it was probably never “alive,” in that it never had the 60 votes to beat a filibuster in the Senate. Obama seems to be betting that small reform is better than none, and for “near-term political” reasons, he might be right—progressive Democrats take note.
President Barack Obama
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