Reform Group Demanded Public Option in Friday Letter To Baucus

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Few have commented this Labor Day on Sen. Max Baucus’ health care reform bill, which does not include a public option.

But it’s fairly clear that the bill won’t win the support of reform groups, many of whom see the public option as a necessary element of reform. Asked for comment, the reform campaign Health Care for America Now referred me to letters they sent Friday to Baucus, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and President Obama demanding that the Finance Committee pass a bill with a strong public option.

“Despite literally months of continuous outreach and effort by you in the Senate Finance Committee, the response of the Republican leadership has been to obstruct progress on achieving our shared goals,” the letter to Baucus reads.

Across the four other congressional committees that have already acted on comprehensive health care legislation, a consistent outline has emerged.

It is now time the Finance Committee, and then the full Senate, move forward with a bill that contains…a strong public option…national (not a separate plan in every state), publicly operated and accountable, available on day one across the nation, and have the authority to establish payment rates that balance the dual goals of guaranteeing broad accessto providers and ensuring affordability.

Baucus, of course, didn’t follow through.

You can read all three letters at this link. They were delivered Friday, amid news reports that the White House might deliver Congress a bill of its own, and that Baucus was finally ready to circulate a draft of his legislation.

Latest DC
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: