On the Fence Likely Supporters Likely Opponents
9 51 40

Likely Opponents

Senator

Stance

Home State Data*
Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) “Senator Reid’s bill is appropriate for the season. It’s the same turkey you didn’t like in August, and it’s not going to taste any better on Thanksgiving. It’s still more premiums. It’s still higher taxes. It’s still Medicare cuts. It’s still a 2,000-page bill.” (11/19/2009)
“Thumbing their nose at the American people by ramming through a partisan bill would be the same thing as going to war without asking Congress’ permission. You might technically be able to do it, but you’d pay a terrible price in the next election.” (09/06/2009)		 13.6% uninsured

61% support the public option, 28% oppose
John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) “The more Washington runs the system, the worse it’s gonna be for the American people.” (10/06/2009)

“What I’m hearing all across the country is ‘kill the bill.’” (08/28/2009)

 13.9% uninsured
Robert Bennett (R-Utah)

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

 “If it has a public option in it, even one that is described as a co-op, the answer is: ‘No.’” (08/26/2009) 15.5% uninsured
Kit Bond (R-Mo.) “I don’t want to see government-controlled co-ops or triggers, anything like that. It’s a gateway drug to a public option.” (09/09/2009)

“The only bipartisan thing about this whole bill is the opposition to the plan.” (09/09/2009)

 13% uninsured
Sam Brownback (R-Kans.) “I call on the President and the Congressional leadership to stop the current attempts to push massive and expensive health care reform through Congress.” (08/27/2009) 12.2% uninsured
Jim Bunning (R-Ky.) “I do not support a government-run health care program. I believe it will kill private insurance.” (09/09/2009)

“We will see if Congress and the Obama administration … continue to ignore the will of the people in an effort to force their liberal agenda down our throats.” (09/09/2009)

 14.1% uninsured

46% support the public option, 45% oppose
Richard Burr (R-N.C.) “We’re leaving to an elected official the ability at any point now, five years from now ten years from now, to write the rules on mandates in a way the private sector couldn’t compete with the government option, that’s just not a smart thing for the congress to do.” (08/14/2009)

“I am willing to entertain [the co-op proposal.] However, if these co-ops are financed or run by the federal government, then they are no better than the public option and are just federally run health care under a different name.” (08/18/2009)

 15.9% uninsured

54% support the public option, 38% oppose
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) “Every individual has the right to choose their own doctor and that’s why I’m opposed to universal health care.” (09/01/2009) 18.8% uninsured
Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) “As a practicing physician, I have seen first-hand how giving government more control over health care has failed to make health care more affordable and accessible.”(05/20/2009)

“Is it efficient to care for the people in Northwest Arkansas by sending money to Washington … or could you as a community figure out a way to do it better, which by the way is constitutional? … There is no compassion in any government program.” (09/06/2009)

 19.5% uninsured
Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) “I don’t think the Senate is going to endorse the House work product.” (08/2009) 17.9% uninsured
Susan Collins (R-Maine) “I’m opposed to a Washington-run public option. I believe it would cause many people to lose health insurance that they’re currently happy with now, and that’s contrary to the assurances that advocates of the public option have been giving. I’m also concerned about the cost and control issue.” (09/08/2009)

“The problem with the trigger is it just delays the public option.” (09/08/2009)

 10.9% uninsured

57.4% support the public option, 37.2% oppose
Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) “I don’t think a public option will be part of a final package. While I think certainly the president will mention that in a speech Wednesday night, I do not think it’s going to be a part of a plan that passes unless it’s done through reconciliation, which to me is not the route to go.” (09/08/2009) 13.6% uninsured

61% support the public option, 28% oppose
John Cornyn (R-Texas) “[A public plan] would eventually undermine all the private-sector competition because the government could set a price that nobody could survive with.” (07/02/2009) 24.1% uninsured
Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) “The battle in our country over whether to shift to a government option in health care is an overarching one that we have to get past.” (09/09/2009) 17.8% uninsured
Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) “If we’re able to stop Obama on this it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.” (07/17/2009)

“Any Republican now that helps them pass a bill is helping them pass a government takeover of health care.” (08/17/2009)

 17.4% uninsured
John Ensign (R-Nev.) “[A public option] will destroy, I believe, and most believe, that it will destroy the private insurance system.” (09/25/2009)

“I hope people don’t politicize Sen. Kennedy’s death and use it to pass a bill.” (09/25/2009)

 21.3% uninsured

52% support the public option, 40% oppose
Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.)

Ranking member of the HELP Committee

 “For millions of Americans, the government-run plan would turn into a bureaucratic nightmare.” (08/19/2009)

“I can count votes, and I know that a government-run plan will not pass in the Senate.” (08/19/2009)

 13.9% uninsured
Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) “My belief is that no private-sector entity can survive over a long period of time competing against the government.” (08/08/2009)

“The public option has been roundly rejected by the public. The public is smart.” (10/26/2009)

 17.4% uninsured
Charles Grassley (R-Iowa)

Ranking member of the Finance Committee

 “The simple truth is that I am and always have been opposed to the Obama Administration’s plans to nationalize health care. Period.” (08/2009)

“I see [co-ops] as an opportunity to enhance health-care competition — just as cooperatives do in other areas of the economy.” (08/18/2009)

 9.1% uninsured
Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) “A public plan is essentially a stalking horse for a single-payer plan. It is more than the camel’s nose under the tent. It is the camel’s neck, and probably front legs, under the tent. There is no way the private sector will be able to compete.” (09/12/2009)

“We shouldn’t push [those 170 million Americans who already have health insurance] into a public plan by creating a system which basically disincentivizes their employers to give them health care.” (10/28/2009)

 10.8% uninsured
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) “They’re trying to put through a government plan, one way or the other, that will have everything run right out of Washington. I mean, look, it just doesn’t work that way.” (09/15/2009)

“Sooner or later they’re going to do away with the private insurance market, which would be a catastrophe.” (08/26/2009)

 15.5% uninsured
Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) “If the president truly wants to bring America together and have Republicans sign onto this, he really does need to start all over with a new blueprint.” (09/09/2009) 24.1% uninsured
James Inhofe (R-Okla.) “Many in Washington believe the answer rests in a bureaucratically managed, one-size-fits-all, government health care program that includes what advocates call a ‘public option’. I strongly disagree and reject this approach.” (08/11/2009)

“We can stall it. And that’s going to be a huge gain for those of us who want to turn this thing over in the 2010 election.” (07/22/2009)

 19.5% uninsured
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) “I am not going to be a part of mortgaging my kids’ futures by driving Americans to a government-run health care system we can’t afford.” (09/10/2009) 18.8% uninsured
Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) “President Obama continues to press for a government-run option and I cannot support that.” (09/11/2009) 11.1% uninsured

39% support the public option, 47% oppose
George LeMieux (R-Fla.) “Cutting half a trillion dollars from Medicare (over 10 years) is not budget neutral. Shifting costs to the states for increases in Medicaid is not responsible. And taxing medical and life-savings devices – which will increase, not decrease the cost of health care — is not reform!” (10/21/2009)

LeMieux stressed that he had ‘serious concerns’ about the latest health care reform proposal being pushed by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Montana, ”specifically highlighting $400 billion in cuts to Medicare funding.” (09/17/2009)

 20.8% uninsured

40% support the public option, 47% oppose
Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.)

Senate Minority Whip

 “There is no way that Republicans are going to support a trillion-dollar-plus bill. … No matter how bad things are, Congress can always make things worse.” (08/18/2009)

“I agree that states should have the option to opt in. But I don’t even know if they have this provision written yet. I certainly haven’t seen it.” (10/27/2009)

Kyl’s office (in response to preceding quote): “Today’s report in The Hill regarding Senator Kyl’s position on an ‘opt-in’ for a government insurance plan is inaccurate. His statement was taken completely out of context, and he, along with every member of our caucus, does not support a government-run insurance plan in any form. Everyone who has been following this debate should know Senator Kyl has been leading the charge against a government takeover of our health-care system.” (10/28/2009)

 18.7% uninsured
Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) “I would advise the president that the bringing up of the health care situation in the midst of recession … was a mistake. Let’s clear the deck and try it again next year or in subsequent times.” (08/23/2009) 13.9% uninsured

53% support the public option, 40% oppose
John McCain (R-Ariz.) “A public option, which is really a government option, is not something that will do anything but lead to a government takeover of health care in America.” (08/25/2009) 18.7% uninsured
Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)

Senate Minority Leader

 “I think I can pretty safely say there aren’t any Senate Republicans who think a government plan is a good idea.” (07/26/2009)

“A government takeover on the installment plan — or a ‘trigger’ as some are calling it — is still a government takeover.” (09/09/2009)

 14.1% uninsured

46% support the public option, 45% oppose
Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) “I am not one of those who believes that the best course of action is just to kill this thing. … I think it’s gonna have to be scaled down.“ (08/20/2009)

“I think that conventional wisdom is that a public option doesn’t have the support, and will not pass through [the Finance] committee.” (09/11/2009)

 20.1% uninsured
Jim Risch (R-Idaho) “Private entities cannot compete with a government entity.” (09/09/2009)

“The President continues to promote the false choice of a complete government takeover or doing nothing.” (09/09/2009)

 17.8% uninsured
Pat Roberts (R-Kans.) “[The public option] won’t work. It hasn’t worked in other countries.” (06/08/2009) 12.2% uninsured
Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) “I do think it continues to decline in public support. I can’t imagine that the public option could be a part of that, part of a final bill, but it’s possible. … I think if the will of the American people continues to be expressed, I think that every week that goes by, the threat of a major government takeover is less and less.” (09/03/2009) 14% uninsured
Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) “As long as the president continues to pursue a government-run plan, I remain in strong opposition.” (09/10/2009) 14% uninsured
Olympia Snowe (R-Maine)

Leading advocate of a “trigger” system

 “I also support a public plan which must be available from day one — in any state where private plans fail to ensure guaranteed affordable coverage.” (07/22/2009)

“I don’t support [an opt-out public option]. … I’ve said, I’m against a public option. … It would be difficult [to vote for cloture on a public option].” (10/22/2009)

“I am deeply disappointed with the Majority Leader’s decision to include a public option as the focus of the legislation. I still believe that a fallback, safety net plan, to be triggered and available immediately in states where insurance companies fail to offer plans that meet the standards of affordability, could have been the road toward achieving a broader bipartisan consensus in the Senate.” (10/26/2009)

 10.9% uninsured

57.4% support the public option, 37.2% oppose
John Thune (R-S.D.) “We should be providing incentives to states to reform their insurance markets and expand coverage in ways that work best for them, not a one-size-fits-all program imposed by the federal government.” (08/23/2009) 11.7% uninsured
David Vitter (R-La.) “Any public option would eventually become the dominant option, and I’m afraid eventually the only option.” (08/25/2009) 17.8% uninsured
George Voinovich (R-Ohio) “A bureaucratic Washington-run government plan is not the answer. … The last thing we need to do is pass legislation that would expand the government’s role in health care or create new entitlement program without first controlling costs.” (07/23/2009) 11.8% uninsured

57% support the public option, 35% oppose
Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) “We’re being offered the promise of genuine competition between the public plan and private insurance plans. When, in fact, the purpose is to switch Americans to a European-style single payer plan down the road.” (08/03/2009) 17.9% uninsured

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

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