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NEWS ABOUT: public option

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Obama Starting to Look Weak: Krugman

Progressives losing faith; public option is the latest copout

(Newser) - When Barack Obama threw the public option under the bus, the White House was reportedly "shocked and surprised" by the ensuing liberal fury, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. “Well, I’m shocked and surprised at their shock and surprise,” he writes. From Obama's reluctance... More »

Noonan to Obama: Retreat, Call It Your Bay of Pigs

(Newser) - The best way for President Obama to emerge from his health care reform sinkhole is to pull the plug on the whole thing, writes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. "It all got hotter, quicker than the White House expected," she writes. Furthermore, "no one understands... More »

Obama on Right-Wing Radio: 'We're Going to Get It Done'

(Newser) - President Obama brought his case for health reform to talk radio today, telling a largely conservative audience that a public option is only a small part of his goal and expressing skepticism that any deal with Republicans is possible. On the public option, "what we've said is we think... More »

Obama's Health Reform Waffling May Be Savvy

Prez perhaps following his predecessors in 'strategic uncertainty'

(Newser) - It may not be timidity that’s keeping Barack Obama from pushing harder for a public health care option. He may instead be employing a time-tested presidential technique: “strategic uncertainty,” writes Jill Lawrence in Politics Daily. Key for Obama is getting strong Senate support for a bill, and... More »

Face It: the Public Option's a No-Go

'Political litmus test' wouldn't be effective anyway

(Newser) - The public health care option is simply a “political litmus test” pushed by left-wingers to represent their side of an “ideological war”—and it’s time to give it up, writes Steven Pearlstein in the Washington Post. “There is nothing about having one government-owned health insurance... More »

What Is a Health Care Co-Op, Anyway?

Member-owned plans would lack government leverage

(Newser) - The likelihood of there being a public health care option is fading—which has some in Congress pushing for an alternative: nonprofit health cooperatives, the Washington Post reports. Few details have emerged about how such plans would work; as it stands, their defining feature seems to be that they wouldn’... More »

Public Option a 'Must' for Health Care Reform: Key Dems

White House waffling worries progressives

(Newser) - Leading advocates for health care reform are concerned about the Obama administration’s apparent willingness to drop a government-run insurance program from the package in order to ensure the support of the Senate, the Washington Post reports. Prominent Democratic senators have voiced support for the public option, with John Rockefeller... More »

Public Option On Its Death Bed

Liberals panic as president, Sebelius, Conrad downplay expectations

(Newser) - The public option is looking sickly, after a weekend in which Obama and Co. seemed to be backing away from it, and liberals aren’t happy about it, Politico reports. “Public Option, Meet Underside of Bus,” read one Daily Kos headline. Over the weekend, President Obama said the... More »

Sebelius: Public Option Not Essential

Also, Dem sen. calls Obama's health care pitch a 'wasted effort'

(Newser) - Liberal lawmakers are demanding that a public option be included in a final health care reform package, but top Obama administration officials seemed to hedge on the subject today, Politico reports. On Face the Nation, Robert Gibbs said “thus far” President Obama sees a government-funded system as the best... More »

On Health Care, Left Should Cut Deals

(Newser) - Presidents from FDR to Nixon to Clinton tried and failed to reform the health care system, but with Barack Obama closer than ever before, the left is already blasting him for compromising too much. That's a shame, writes Clinton strategist Paul Begala, who regrets "setting the bar at 100%"... More »

Gov't Health Plan Would Cover Abortion

Both sides get ready to rumble over incendiary funding

(AP) - Health care legislation before Congress would allow a new government-sponsored insurance plan to cover abortions, a decision that would affect millions of women and recast federal policy on the divisive issue. Advocates on both sides are preparing for a renewed battle, which could jeopardize support for President Obama's health care... More »

5 Things to Watch During Critical August Break

Health care takes center stage in 'consequential' recess

(Newser) - With health care reform hanging in the balance, the August congressional recess is likely to be a lot less relaxing than usual, writes Glenn Thrush in Politico. What to watch:
  1. Health insurers’ response to Nancy Pelosi’s singling them out as the "bad guys" on soaring health care costs.
... More »

Health Care Works Great— for Congress

Taxpayers spend $15B to offer 8.5M federal workers primo benefits

(Newser) - As members of Congress tear into each other over health care reform, they do so assured that a top shelf taxpayer-funded smorgasboard of health plans are there to respond to their slightest sniffle, Mark Barabak and Faye Fiore note in the Los Angeles Times. Last year, taxpayers spent about $15... More »

Blue Dog Deal Means No Vote on Health Before Recess

Dems also agree on $100B trim: Waxman

(Newser) - The House will not vote on a health care bill before the August recess, the Hill reports. Rep. Henry Waxman agreed to the delay as part of a deal with “Blue Dog” Democrats on his Energy and Commerce Committee, who had been threatening to block the bill. Waxman now... More »

Blue Dogs Stand Firm as Dems Get Panicky

Marathon sessions fail to reach a deal as tempers fray

(Newser) - The Democratic leadership is scrambling to make progress on health care reform before Congress breaks for its August recess, but last night's marathon negotiations failed to break the stalemate—and may even have increased the number of issues up for debate.  "We're making progress," Nancy Pelosi said... More »

Health Reform Must Pass the Test of Prostate Cancer

Efficacy should trump novelty in care choices

(Newser) - Forget public options and universal mandates. The real litmus test for health care reform is prostate cancer testing, writes David Leonhardt of the New York Times. Treatments for the disease range in cost from a few thousand dollars to more than $100,000. "You can probably guess which treatments... More »

Public Option 'Negotiable' in Health Reform: Emanuel

Obama OK with trigger backup to private plans

(Newser) - President Obama wants a public health care option, but he’s not married to the idea, Rahm Emanuel tells the Wall Street Journal—as long as real competition is somehow injected into the insurance market. “The goal is to have a means and a mechanism to keep the private... More »

On Health Reform, Obama Should Heed His Doc, Not AMA

Medical association is wrong yet again: Kristof

(Newser) - Its membership may abide by the Hippocratic Oath, but the American Medical Association is definitely doing the public harm in its opposition to meaningful health care reform, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. The AMA has become infamous for its lousy political stands: it supported segregation, backed tobacco,... More »

Public Option Pivotal to Health Reform: Reich

Obama can't give in to critics

(Newser) - As wrangling over health care reform drags on, President Obama is putting the idea of a public option on the back burner. But public competition would drive private plans to offer better, less expensive care, cutting the massive costs that are hindering progress, writes Robert Reich in the Wall Street ... More »

If Health Care Push Fails, Blame Dems

Public wants a public option; why do 'centrists' oppose it?

(Newser) - Now ought to be a good time to reform health care. With costs up and coverage down, polls show the public overwhelmingly favors change. Unfortunately, “a handful of Democratic senators are still determined to party like it’s 1993,” writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times. These... More »

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