Democrats scramble to find support for public option
A new health care proposal would let states opt out
By The Associated Press
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Published: October 24, 2009
WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in Congress scrambled Friday to round up votes for allowing the government to sell health insurance in competition with private industry as they struggled to finalize a health care bill that will meet President Barack Obama’s goals.
In a change in the Senate, long seen as hostile to the so-called public option, senior Democrats were considering including such a measure, officials said.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., spent Friday calling wavering Democrats to test support for versions of the plan.
A similar process was under way in the House, where
Speaker Nancy Pelosi was scratching for votes in favor of her preferred version of the so-called public option.
Tensions were high with Democrats in both chambers in the final throes of completing sweeping health care bills they want to bring to the floor within weeks. In its broad outlines, the legislation would remake the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care system, requiring most Americans to purchase health insurance, and government subsidies to help lower-income people do so. Insurers would face new restrictions against dropping coverage for sick people or denying coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions.
"It’s just a question of when, and how soon,” Pelosi said.
Liberals in Congress have long viewed a public option as critical for the plan, and Obama has said frequently he favors it.
A new version has drawn interest: a federal public plan that would allow states to opt out.
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