On the Fence Likely Supporters Likely Opponents
9 51 40

Likely Supporters

Senator

Stance

Home State Data*
Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) Signed a public letter saying that “absent a competitive and continuous public insurance option – health reform legislation will not produce nationwide access and ongoing cost containment.” (10/30/2009) 6.7% uninsured
Max Baucus (D-Mont.)

Finance Committee chairman

 “[T]he Senate health reform legislation is a balanced, fiscally-responsible package that will deliver the real reform that American families, businesses and the economy need. The Senate bill is fully paid for, won’t add a dime to the federal deficit and helps pay down the national debt,” said Baucus. “It ensures choice for consumers and increases competition in the market. … The American people are counting on us to act, so we must continue the hard work and compromise it took to reach this point until we deliver a bill to the President’s desk.” (11/18/2009)

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know. I just really don’t know [if a public plan can pass].” (10/28/2009)

“The major overall goal here though is to get health care reform that passes the Senate, gets 60 votes, and I just don’t know if there is 60 votes for the most pure kinds of the public option. There may be 60 votes for the less pure kinds.” (10/19/2009)

“I want a public option, too!” (08/24/09)

 18.5% uninsured

47% support the public option, 43% oppose
Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) “Any health care reform bill should control costs, allow people to keep their own medical plan and their own doctor, increase competition, and increase coverage — all in a fiscally responsible way. I also believe providing patients with a public insurance option — that increases competition and drives down prices — would help to achieve these goals.” (08/08/2009) 17.2% uninsured
Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) “My preference would be to do it through a public option but if some other decision was made to do it through a co-op or some other avenue I don’t think that’s the end of the world.” (08/08/2009) 21.4% uninsured
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) “We need competition, which is what a public option would bring us.” (09/08/2009) 17.8% uninsured
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) “[I]‘m not going to say I will not support it if it doesn’t have [a public option]. It’s not the only thing that matters in this bill. Guaranteed issue is very important … insurance reform is very important.” (09/03/2009)

“If the insurance companies are satisfied with this bill it’s not a good bill.” (09/03/2009)

 11.8% uninsured

57% support the public option, 35% oppose
Roland Burris (D-Ill.) “I firmly believe in a public option and will oppose any bill that does not include one.” (09/16/2009) 12.8% uninsured
Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) “Let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear [Ted Kennedy's] name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American.” (08/26/2009) 15.8% uninsured
Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) “I wouldn’t vote for a bill that doesn’t have Medicare reform and the public option. What would I tell the people in Washington state?” (09/16/2009) 13.1% uninsured
Ben Cardin (D-Md.) “I think the public option is important. I think it’s important because you need to have an affordable option available for people.” (08/23/2009) 11.1% uninsured
Bob Casey (D-Pa.) “I believe people should have a choice, and it gives people — the public option gives people another choice, along with a lot of choices that are in the private marketplace.” (08/31/2009) 9.4% uninsured
Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)

Presided over HELP Committee bill’s passage in Sen. Ted Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) absence

 “I don’t know if we have the votes to pass a strong public health care option. […] What I do know is that I plan to fight hard to convince my colleagues on the committee and in the full Senate that we need a public option.” (06/19/2009) 9% uninsured

64% support the public option, 30% oppose
Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) “Yes I do [support a public option].” (08/21/2009)

“First of all, I think it’s important that people who are satisfied with the health plan they have know that they can keep that coverage.” (08/21/2009)

 10.5% uninsured
Richard Durbin (D-Ill.)

Senate Majority Whip

 “I support a public option, but, yes, I am open.” (08/09/2009) 12.8% uninsured
Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) “We need a public option. We need something that would cause some control over the abuses that have occurred in the insurance industry.” (10/25/2009) 9.1% uninsured
Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) “I think the public option with an opt out is the right way to go.” (10/27/2009)

“The public option should be one of a variety of choices for people who want improved coverage.” (08/28/2009)

“I am also open to considering a non-profit co-operative model, as long as it can accomplish the critical goal of controlling premium costs and spurring competition.” (08/28/2009)

 17.8% uninsured
Al Franken (D-Minn.) “I think that we can use the public option to cut costs because private health insurers will have to compete with it. The public option also doesn’t have to make a profit so we can focus more on integrating care and coordinating health care homes and increasing quality to bring down costs.” (09/02/2009) 8.7% uninsured
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) “I plan to stand with the president so that we move forward on meaningful health care reform. I continue to support a robust public option that can compete with private health insurance and drive down health care costs for everyone.” (09/10/2009) 11.8% uninsured
Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) “We have crafted a plan that will stabilize health care costs and includes a Community Health Insurance Option, which I support.” (07/02/2009) 15.9 % uninsured

54% support the public option, 38% oppose
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

Chairman of the HELP Committee

 “Mark my word — I’m the chairman — it’s going to have a strong public option.” (09/13/2009)

“The vast majority of the Democratic caucus is for the public option that is in the HELP bill. Should the 52 give in to the five, or should the five come along with the majority?” (10/16/2009)

 9.1% uninsured
Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) Signed a public letter saying that “absent a competitive and continuous public insurance option – health reform legislation will not produce nationwide access and ongoing cost containment.” (10/30/2009) 6.7% uninsured
Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) “A public option would simply be a government insurance plan that people could choose if they liked it better than the private insurance plans available to them. Americans who are not offered insurance through their employer or cannot afford private insurance plans need an affordable option.” 11.7% uninsured
Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) “A public option – where the consumer has the opportunity to keep their current insurance or choose the public option, if no competitor is available – gives Americans a greater range of choices, makes the health care market more competitive, and keeps insurance companies honest.” (08/29/2009) 10.3% uninsured
John Kerry (D-Mass.) “Sen. Kerry supports a robust public plan, that like Medicare, would be available to everyone from coast-to-coast.” (Kerry spokesman) (07/09/2009)

“Majority Leader Reid is taking the gutsy and appropriate road in fighting for the right policy, something the American people want and an issue on which every Senator should be held accountable. That’s why I voted for it in the Finance Committee and why I’ve advocated for it since day one.” (10/26/2009)

 4.1% uninsured
Paul Kirk (D-Mass.) “Senator Kirk believes there should be a public option to keep costs down and keep insurance companies honest.” (Kirk spokesman) (09/28/2009) 4.1% uninsured
Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) “I would prefer a public option that would be a competitive option that would allow people to buy into a Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, which is a series of private plans.” (09/02/2009) 8.7% uninsured
Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) “[President Obama thinks the public option] is a good thing, he wishes we could have it. I feel the same way. But we’ll see how it works out as we work our way through the legislative process.” (09/11/2009)

“Ideally, I think health reform should include some type of a public option.” (06/20/2009)

 9.1% uninsured
Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) “Greater choice and greater competition helps ensure consumers can get real coverage at more affordable prices and should be a part of national health care reform.” (05/21/2009) 12.4% uninsured
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) “I want it to be competition — with the public option there is.” (09/09/2009) 9.1% uninsured
Carl Levin (D-Mich.) We must “explore all possible health insurance options, including a federally-backed health insurance pool.” (05/21/2009) 11.5% uninsured
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) “I’ll vote for the public option. But I’m focused on these deficit costs, on how can we reconfigure the way we pay for health care in a way that, long term, will begin to have an impact on these deficits that are really going to threaten the security of our nation in the next 10 to 20 years, if we don’t get serious about it.” (10/25/2009)

“I think there’s a chance that we’ll have some kind of public option. But it probably will be a very moderate program that will be severely limited in terms of its ability to grow … and who can access it.” (10/05/2009)

“I can’t support a bill that will allow the public option to become the public mandate.” (08/31/2009)

“If it’s constrained, I’d vote yes.” (08/31/2009)

 18.5% uninsured
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) “By ensuring that families have a real choice of health insurance options – and that one of those choices is a quality, federally-backed plan – we can help guarantee that families will have good options for health care.” (05/21/2009)

“We need a public option to increase competition, keep insurers honest, drive down costs.” (09/29/2009)

 12.4% uninsured
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) “By creating competition, by holding private insurers’ feet to the fire, you get better service. You get lower costs. So, a public option is essential.” (10/16/2009) 16.4% uninsured
Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) “I say there is no option but a public option. For those who say we need a trigger, I say, ‘be careful; you could be shooting down health care.’” (06/2009) 11.1% uninsured
Patty Murray (D-Wash.) “What we are trying to do is create a competitive pool of insurance options, including a public option.” (08/20/2009)

“I support the President’s vision of a public plan.” (09/09/2009)

 13.1% uninsured
Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) Supports a public option but wants to ensure that states cannot opt out for several years: “My concern is you don’t even get the competition from a public option to begin with because the insurance lobby will lock down its votes. The people will never know in that state or not if a public option would lower their rates. (10/27/2009)

“I have come down on the side of voting for the Schumer [public option] amendment,” Nelson told the Senate Finance Committee on Sept. 29.

“[Public option advocates] don’t have a clue” about the logistics of a public plan. “The whole thing is so complicated you can’t expect them to understand. … If a co-op serves the same purpose, what’s the big deal? … You can’t get 60 votes in the Senate [for a public option]. I’m trying to get something passed.” (09/16/2009)

“He’s keeping an open mind on co-ops, public options and other possible proposals, but believes there aren’t enough votes in the Senate to pass a public-option plan,” a Nelson spokesman told TWI on Sept. 17.

 20.8% uninsured

40% support the public option, 47% oppose
Jack Reed (D-R.I.) “[The HELP bill] provided this public option so that it would be a fair competitor with private insurance. Not displace private insurance.” (07/25/2009)

“[Co-ops] could be a fallback position if we cannot muster the support for the public option as it’s come out of the committee. I hope we can muster the support, though.” (07/25/2009)
Harry Reid (D-Nev.)

Senate Majority Leader; top recipient of health industry campaign donations this year

 “I’ve told people, whoever will listen, that I am in favor of the public option.” (08/28/2009)

“But there are many ways we can do it. One would be to have an entity like Medicare. I really don’t favor that. I think what we should have is a private entity that has direction from the federal government.” (08/28/2009)

“Reid continues to believe that at the end of the day, some form of a public option that creates competition and lowers costs for consumers will be included in any Senate proposal.” (Reid office statement) (10/05/2009)

 21.3% uninsured

52% support the public option, 40% oppose
Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) “I believe the inclusion of a strong public plan option in health reform legislation is a must. It is the only proven way to guarantee that all consumers have affordable, meaningful and accountable options available in the health insurance marketplace.” (08/16/2009) 15.8% uninsured
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) “Our job both from a public policy point of view and a political point of view is to give our constituents what they want and that is a strong public option.” (10/27/2009)

“I am a strong advocate of a public option. I think that is one mechanism to keep the private insurance companies honest. If you’re serious about cost containment you have to do that and so my strong hope and expectation is there will be a strong public option in any health care bill that is passed.“ (08/17/2009)

 9.1% uninsured
Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Top recipient of insurance industry campaign donations this year

 “We are going to come together on a public option. … I have talked to every moderate senator. Every one of them is interested, is open to a public option.” (10/04/2009)

“I have faith in Harry Reid to get the 60 votes.” (10/27/2009)

“I personally don’t particularly like the trigger, particularly if its three years or four years down the road. It depends on how you set up the trigger, but [if] your measure is concentration in the insurance industry and the lack of competition as a result of that concentration — we’re there already.” (09/09/2009)

 11.8% uninsured
Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) “This U.S. Senator is going to tell him (the President) emphatically that we need the public option.” (09/09/2009)

“I think the likelihood is there are 50 plus votes among the Democrats in the Senate to have a robust public option, without an opt out, with a trigger, without any condition.” (10/22/2009)

 9.4% uninsured
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) “I am a supporter of the public option. … But I think it’s important to stay focused on what we’re trying to accomplish. … There are a number of ways to get there.” (09/13/2009) 10.8% uninsured
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) “Well, I support a public option. I did it in committee.” (10/05/2009)

“[The public option] is only a part of reform. It is an important part. Those of us on the inside are looking at what we can do and looking at the votes.” (08/18/2009)

 11.5% uninsured
Jon Tester (D-Mont.) “We need competition, and if we get a public option that will help Montana. I will support it.” (10/28/2009)

“I don’t need [the public option] either way. I could either support it or not support it. It’s all in the design.” (08/26/2009)

 18.5% uninsured

47% support the public option, 43% oppose
Mark Udall (D-Colo.) “I support the President’s plan to include the public option as a tool help reform our broken health care system. But above all, any reform must be done in a deficit-neutral way and must provide choice, stability and security for those who have insurance.” (09/10/2009) 17.2% uninsured
Tom Udall (D-N.M.) “I hope we’ll be able to put a bill on the floor that will have a public option.” (09/03/2009) 21.4% uninsured
Mark Warner (D-Va.) “It’s not a make or break thing–he wants to see a health reform bill that contains costs, and if it includes a public option…he would vote for it.” (Warner spokesman) (08/24/2009)

“I want to make sure there are some competitive alternatives to the insurance companies. But I’m concerned that simply expanding Medicare and Medicaid without getting the financial incentives right — it’s going to again end up driving up the deficit costs.” (08/24/2009)

 12% uninsured
Jim Webb (D-Va.) “I will vote to proceed to debate, but I think everyone should see that bill before we start debating it. … If it came down to a public option as opposed to, say, a non-profit insurance programs or those sorts of things, I would support a public option.”

“There is no reason to believe that private insurers alone will meet the public purpose of ensuring coverage for all American at an affordable price for taxpayers.” (06/25/2009)

 12% uninsured
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) “I think we’re taking reckless chances if we don’t include a public option, so I’m a very strong supporter of it. Is it possible that we could solve the problem without it? I suppose hypothetically, but I think it would be a mistake.” (08/21/2009) 10.5% uninsured
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)

Co-wrote the Wyden-Bennett health reform bill, which restructures the private insurance market without a public option

 “I am very open to the public option, to anything that will contain health care costs. We have to have choices.” (09/03/2009)

“When you have a prestigious medical organization like Mayo Clinic saying that they could accept a public option if it was like what members of Congress get … that’s a real breakthrough.” (09/22/2009)

 16.4% uninsured

For senators who are on the fence, click here.
For likely opponents, click here.

*Uninsured numbers come from 2008 U.S. Census Bureau data.