Public Option Fails in Finance Committee

Nancy Pelosi still wants it in House-Senate compromise

(NEWSER) - As health care reform chugs through the Senate Finance Committee, Mike Madden checks in on the prospects for a public option and finds it's not quite dead yet. A big test comes today when the committee votes on amendments from supporters of the public option, such as Jay Rockefeller. "Don't count it out," says Chuck Schumer, sounding not exactly like his usual "bulldog" self, notes Madden, writing for Salon. More»

(NEWSER) - Max Baucus took to the Wall Street Journal opinion page today to make the case for the health care reform bill he’s unveiling this morning. “Our plan would lower costs and would not add to the federal deficit,” he declares in the first of many statements about what he repeatedly calls “our plan,” and at one point calls the Senate Finance Committee plan. There’s just one problem: There seems to be no one beside Baucus behind the bill. More»

Reid tells Democrats to find compromise by tonight

(NEWSER) - Senate Democrats trying to hammer out a compromise on health care reform are considering ditching the bill's public option in favor of expanding the public options that already exist. People over 55 will be able to buy into the Medicare program and Medicaid will be expanded under the proposals being discussed, Politico reports. A government-administered national insurance plan similar to the one for federal workers would replace the public option under the proposals. More»

Senate majority leader banks on 60 votes, infuriates Baucus

(NEWSER) - Harry Reid is preparing to bring a health reform bill that includes a public option to the floor of the Senate, gambling that his 60-member caucus will support the plan if it contains opt-out measures for individual states. The majority leader and other senators met with Barack Obama yesterday to discuss strategy, although the president did not explicitly endorse the approach. Polls show a clear majority supports a public option, and Nancy Pelosi is bringing a bill containing one through the House. More»

Baucus, Dodd the only senators with secure seats at negotiating table

(NEWSER) - Every senator worth their salt is salivating for a seat at the table when Harry Reid merges the Senate’s two competing health care bills—but the vast majority will instead have their noses pressed to the glass. Reid hopes to speed things up by keeping the group small, Politico reports, with one Senate leadership source saying that it may come down to three men in a room: Reid, Max Baucus, and Chris Dodd. More»