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Obama ready to scrap public option? — MedCity Morning Read, Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009

The White House sought to reassure supporters on Monday that President Obama is not abandoning the fight for a so-called "public option" in favor of a nonprofit health insurance cooperative being crafted by the Senate Finance Committee. The plan has been a central flashpoint for opponents. Others believe a public option is essential to reform and dropping it might weaken support for reform in the Congress.

By Mary Vanac on August 18, 2009 8:41 am

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House sought to reassure supporters on Monday that President Obama is not abandoning the fight for a so-called “public option” in favor of a nonprofit health insurance cooperative being crafted by the Senate Finance Committee, according to CNN.

The public option — a plan similar to Medicare aimed at insuring the nation’s nearly 50 million uninsured — has been a central component of Obama’s plans to reform its health care system. Over the weekend, Obama and others in his administration seemed to signal they would be willing to compromise on a government-backed health insurance option, according to the New York Times. Competing with private insurers to keep them honest is the idea behind a public option, according to the NPR Health blog. 

The plan has been a central flash point for opponents. On Sunday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebeliussaid a government-supported plan for the uninsured was “not the essential element” of health care reform” and raised the idea of a co-op in an interview with CNN. “I think there will be a competitor for private insurers,” Sebelius said during CNN’s State of the Union, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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The move seemed to leave the door open to alternatives of covering most Americans with health insurance, but it angered liberals and ignited their protests. One prominent Democrat, former Vermont governor Howard Dean, said Monday that a public plan is inextricably linked to health reform, according to the Times. “I don’t think it can pass without the public option,” Dean, who is a doctor and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, told “The Early Show” on CBS, according to the New York Times.

Dropping the public option might weaken support for reform in the Congress. “I am not interested in passing health care reform in name only,” said Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin on Monday. “Without a public option, I don’t see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it.”

But some experts said abandoning a public option for private-sector options such as cooperatives, which would allow consumers to band together to get health coverage, and insurance exchanges — virtual marketplaces where private insurers would compete for consumers’ business — may not entirely relieve pressure on insurers to deliver cost savings, the L.A. Times said. And many advocates of a public plan had doubted the idea would survive intense opposition by powerful insurers and other health care players.

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