rssUPDATED: Senators Reportedly Reach Tentative Deal to Drop Public Option
Tuesday, December 08, 2009 at 8:35 pm
- 14 Comments
Breaking news from The Associated Press:
Democratic senators say they have a tentative deal to drop a government-run insurance option from healthcare legislation.
No further details were immediately available.
But liberals and moderates have been discussing an alternative, including a private insurance arrangement to be supervised by the federal agency that oversees the system through which lawmakers purchase coverage. Additionally, talks centered on opening Medicare to uninsured Americans beginning at age 55, a significant expansion of the large government healthcare program that currently serves the over-65 population.
Update: Politico has a little more information. From a breaking news alert:
Senate Democrats have reached a “broad agreement” on a health reform bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday night — a plan that negotiators have said would create a new national health-care plan with private insurers, and a chance for older Americans to “buy in” to Medicare.
2nd Update: TPM’s intrepid Brian Beutler reports that Reid said news reports that “the public option is gone” are “not true.”
3rd Update: The New York Times has more:
Mr. Reid refused to provide details, saying only that the group of 10 senators – five liberals and five centrists – would be sending proposals to the Congressional Budget Office for analysis. The broader Senate Democratic caucus appeared to be in a state of confusion with even some senior party leaders saying they were unaware of any agreement.
But Democratic aides said that the group had tentatively agreed on a proposal that would replace a government-run health care plan with a menu of new national, privately-run insurance plans modeled after the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, which covers more than eight million federal workers, including members of Congress, and their dependents.
A government-run plan would be retained as a fall-back option, the aides said, and would be triggered only if the new proposal failed to meet targets for providing affordable insurance coverage to a specified number of people.
The agreement would also allow Americans between age 55 and 64 to buy coverage through Medicare, beginning in 2011.
14 Comments
Pingback posted December 8, 2009 @ 8:37 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Matt DeLong, WashIndependent. WashIndependent said: Senators Reach Tentative Deal to Drop Public Option http://bit.ly/6dcJmQ [...]
Trackback posted December 8, 2009 @ 9:42 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by TWI_news: Senators Reach Tentative Deal to Drop Public Option http://bit.ly/6dcJmQ...
Comment posted December 8, 2009 @ 9:46 pm
It's STILL a PUBLIC OPTION.
If the govt. gets to decide the rules or when the trigger gets pulled, it's still a Public Option. Govt. run=Public option
Not to mention the honesty this President and Administration has, you really trust them? The bullying and the changing the rules whenever they feel like it…really??
Comment posted December 8, 2009 @ 11:16 pm
It must be so convenient to have such a selective memory. Just forget the last eight years of miserable and criminal decisions filling the pockets of the big companies.
It was the previous administration that gadded a new dimension to 'bullying and changing the rules'.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 12:01 am
The people of this country need an option to buy public health insurance if they are not employed. It is the right thing to do. It's so frustrating to see how selfish members of congress can be – all they're worried about is getting re-elected or getting some deal from lobbyists. They should do the right thing for the people of this country.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 3:28 am
This public option is very unpopular as is the cuts to seniors. The Dems got burned by nearly touching a third rail and smartly backed off.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 5:57 am
There should be a Mechanism put in place that Senators can be Recalled by the people in the states they are supposed to represent…. It is very disappointing to see the Power the Insurance Companies have on many senators in the Senate. There is not much we can do at this time but cut our losses and remember Who those Senators are who care more for the Insurance Cos., than the people they represent, and Vote them out come their turn to run again. There must be retrubition for their failure to do what is right for the people. However, I do believe Sen Reid had the power to do a Reconciliation and I am disappointed that he did not have the Courage to take that road! They had a chance to do something right and meaningful and because of a Few bad apples, the dream cannot be materialized.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 9:30 am
You are a fool. What polls show the public option is “very unpopular”. And as for your assertion that cuts to seniors are unpopular as well, as in cuts to medicare, AARP supports that measure. The only people who don't want the public option to succeed as those whose bank account have ties to the insurance companies, or people who blindly embrace the free market as the best solution in all situations.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 10:57 am
There should be a Mechanism put in place that Senators can be Recalled by the people in the states they are supposed to represent…. It is very disappointing to see the Power the Insurance Companies have on many senators in the Senate. There is not much we can do at this time but cut our losses and remember Who those Senators are who care more for the Insurance Cos., than the people they represent, and Vote them out come their turn to run again. There must be retrubition for their failure to do what is right for the people. However, I do believe Sen Reid had the power to do a Reconciliation and I am disappointed that he did not have the Courage to take that road! They had a chance to do something right and meaningful and because of a Few bad apples, the dream cannot be materialized.
Comment posted December 9, 2009 @ 2:30 pm
You are a fool. What polls show the public option is “very unpopular”. And as for your assertion that cuts to seniors are unpopular as well, as in cuts to medicare, AARP supports that measure. The only people who don't want the public option to succeed as those whose bank account have ties to the insurance companies, or people who blindly embrace the free market as the best solution in all situations.
Pingback posted December 9, 2009 @ 6:58 pm
[...] UPDATED: Senators Reportedly Reach Tentative Deal to Drop Public … [...]
Pingback posted December 9, 2009 @ 6:58 pm
[...] UPDATED: Senators Reportedly Reach Tentative Deal to Drop Public … [...]
Pingback posted December 29, 2009 @ 6:29 pm
[...] Senators Reach Tentative Deal to Drop Public Option - The Washington Independent See all 94 blogs. December 9th, 2009 | Category: news [...]
Comment posted April 29, 2011 @ 5:35 pm
The agreement would have to pass the Congress. I’m wondering how the Tea Party faction will react to a corporate-written trade deal.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
