Health Care reform legislation is in the works and is expected to hit the Senate floor in July. Thanks to reconciliation requirements, a reform bill must be voted on by October 15, so Congress is buzzing to life around the health care debate this week.
The Senate Finance Committee outlined yesterday three options for what reform could look like. The committee’s overall statement proposed that the government should provide a new health insurance exchange, but did not clarify whether it would include a publicly run option or not. (This will be the topic of hot debate in these weeks to come.) If a public plan were to be included, however, the three scenarios the committee laid out were:
- A Medicare-Like plan: government administered
- A Third Party plan: administered by a third party
- A State plan: administered by states
If a public plan were not included in the new health insurance exchange, the committee suggested the regulation of the insurance market to make coverage more accessible.
The insurance industry has jumped on board with this fourth option in hopes to avoid a public plan that they fear would drive them out of market. They sent a letter to Obama on Monday presenting a plan to contain costs and end underwriting practices, such as denying coverage to patients with pre-exisiting conditions or charging more for women versus men.
While the industry’s efforts at joining the table around the health care discussion is understandable and lauded by some, I will quote Senator Schumer (D-NY) here and say the industry is presenting a “good faith effort” but “It does not mitigate the need for a public plan option in our health care reform bill”.
We need a public plan option to ensure health care coverage for all, it’s time to put people before profits. Write your local paper to show Congress and the administration that you demand a public option.
