Move over public option...
Posted: Thursday, June 11, 2009 4:08 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under:
Congress
From NBC’s Ken Strickland
Desperately seeking a bipartisan solution to Republicans’ fierce opposition to public/government-run insurance options, key Senate Democrats have focused their attention on a plan that's attracted growing Republican interest. Offered by Democrat Kent Conrad, the plan would create "co-ops," or consumer owned, non-profit, non-government insurance plans.
Leaving a closed-door meeting on health care, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus said the co-op plan is "the one that's most talked about right now." He added, "I'm inclined, and I think the committee is inclined, toward it, but it's got to be written in a way that accomplishes the objects of a public option even though itself is not public."
Video: Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., joins the Morning Joe gang to discuss health care reform, arguing that both parties can come together to find solutions.
To help secure the support of "public option" Democrats, Sen.
Chuck Schumer has been enlisted to try and bridge the gap.
"I'm in touch with many of the groups and colleagues who support a public option," Schumer said after the meeting. "And the bottom line is we're not going to support anything that won't be an independent model that puts… the consumer ahead of profitability."
Schumer listed three "bare minimums" for a co-op plan to work and presumably drawn in Democratic support, which has been mostly muted so far. First, it has to be national, big enough to complete with insurance giants and command discount pricing. Second, it will require a "significant" infusion of federal money for start up. And lastly, it must be managed in a way that walls itself off from the influence of the private insurance industry.
"We're trying to bridge the gap here," Schumer said. "I don't know if we can. We're making a good effort."
He insisted members were not close to an agreement.
Republican Orrin Hatch, who also attended the closed meeting, suggested as much.
"Just this morning, there was a big set of arguments between Sen. Conrad and Sen. Schumer," Hatch said at a news conference. "They don't know where they are, so how in the world can we make much of a determination on that when we don't understand what they're talking about."
