The push for health care reform is moving fast and furiously, so I thought it’d be helpful to have semi-daily “Health on the Hill” updates that should help you keep track of the reform debate and get to the meat of the issue. Enjoy!

Today’s Updates – 10/21/09

This week, while key Senate Democrats and White House officials have been in discussions about merging their health care reform legislation into one bill,  Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has been hard at work  trying to meld the House pieces of legislation together, focusing specifically on ensuring that a “robust” public option will be included. Pelosi and her team are not only working to include this in the House plan, but are putting pressure on the Senate to include a “robust” public option in the final Senate bill. In the Senate’s bill-merging discussions, Harry Reid has said that “We’re leaning towards talking about a public option”. Leaning towards talking about it…how’s that for commitment? Anyway, if that lean turns into a discussion and that discussion turns into a solid commitment to have a public option in the final Senate bill, it will make it easier to ensure a public option is included in the bill that comes out of the House and Senate merge of legislation, called “conference”, which is the last step before the President signs reform into law.

What does a “robust” public option mean? Basically it all comes down to how the insurance plan pays the health providers. Private insurance plans negotiate their own rates for payment, which are often high and run up costs. Medicare, on the other hand, has set rates that keep costs low. The public option being endorsed by Speaker Pelosi and gang would pay providers at the same rate as Medicare plus 5%. This is what the House is calling a “robust” public option.  Other public options would negotiate their own rates like a private plan does. The Congressional Budget Office has given a $871 billion cost score to the House plan that includes the “robust” public option and says that it will reduce the deficit.

Meanwhile, health reform supporters around the country continue to show their demand for reform. Yesterday’s national day of action generated over 300,000 calls to Congress, with the message that it is “time to deliver” on health care reform. This kind of grassroots action is key, especially when the pharmaceutical and health insurance industries are spending record amounts on lobbying against health reform (see below).

Pelosi pushes strong public option

Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Democrats Tuesday night that she wants to move forward with the more liberal version of a House health reform bill that would peg government-run coverage to Medicare – setting up a clash with moderates in her caucus who oppose the plan.

Public Option Gets New Life in Senate

The public plan is among the most contentious issues to be worked out between Senate Democrats and the White House ahead of floor action this fall. President Barack Obama has said he thinks a public plan is the best way to ensure competition in the health-insurance market, while adding that he is open to other ideas.

Health-care lobbyists continue spending spree

.. insurers, drugmakers and hospitals continue to spend millions to attempt to sway the emerging legislation, according to new disclosure reports filed with Congress.The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drugmakers’ main trade group, shattered records again by spending nearly $7 million on lobbying from July through September..