{"id":2550,"date":"2009-07-28T17:12:28","date_gmt":"2009-07-28T21:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2550"},"modified":"2009-07-28T17:13:40","modified_gmt":"2009-07-28T21:13:40","slug":"is-the-public-option-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/28\/is-the-public-option-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Public Option Dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m hearing rumblings from various sources that the Democrats so called Public Health Insurance option is dead in the the Senate&#8230; The Associated Press is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/stories\/2009\/07\/27\/politics\/main5192558.shtml\" target=\"_blank\">reporting<\/a> that a bipartisan group of Senators is close to a compromise agreement that would eliminate the employer mandate and the public option, two of the Democrats top priorities from the bill:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer Monday to a health care compromise that omits two key Democratic priorities but incorporates provisions to slow the explosive rise in medical costs, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>These officials said participants were on track to exclude a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for businesses to offer coverage to their workers. Nor would there be a provision for a government insurance option, despite President Barack Obama&#8217;s support for such a plan.<\/p>\n<p>The three Democrats and three Republicans from the Senate Finance Committee were considering a tax of as much as 35 percent on very high-cost insurance policies, part of an attempt to rein in rapid escalation of costs. Also likely to be included in any deal was creation of a commission charged with slowing the growth of Medicare through recommendations that would take effect automatically unless overturned by Congress.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Assuming for the moment that the rumblings are true and the employer mandate and the public option are really dead it&#8217;s no reason to celebrate&#8230; The Democrats can still push through some pretty big changes like an individual mandate, highly regulated insurance market, major subsidies, etc. Similar to the Massachusetts model, a plan that&#8217;s already already <a href=\"http:\/\/www.boston.com\/bostonglobe\/editorial_opinion\/oped\/articles\/2009\/03\/02\/mass_healthcare_reform_is_failing_us\/\" target=\"_blank\">failing<\/a>. Costs have more than doubled from $630 million in 2007 to an estimated $1.3 billion for 2009. That&#8217;s simply not sustainable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/content\/article\/2009\/07\/27\/AR2009072701905.html\" target=\"_blank\">Obama&#8217;s Plan Isn&#8217;t the Answer<\/a> &#8211; The Washington Post<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/politics\/GOP-teachable-moment-on-the-risks-of-Obamacare-8028107-51819127.html\" target=\"_blank\">GOP&#8217;s teachable moment on the risks of Obamacare<\/a> &#8211; Washington Examiner<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallup.com\/poll\/121916\/Two-Three-Doubt-Congress-Grasp-Healthcare-Issues.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Two in Three Doubt Congress\u2019 Grasp of Healthcare Issues<\/a> &#8211; Gallup<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rasmussenreports.com\/public_content\/politics\/current_events\/healthcare\/july_2009\/just_23_believe_health_care_costs_will_go_down_if_reform_passes_congress\" target=\"_blank\">Just 23% Believe Health Care Costs Will Go Down if Reform Passes Congress<\/a> &#8211; Rasmussen Reports<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/keithhennessey.com\/2009\/07\/28\/cbo-calls-tko\/\" target=\"_blank\">CBO calls a TKO on the House health bill<\/a> &#8211; Keith Hennessey<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sweetness-light.com\/archive\/lessons-from-hawaiis-health-care-system\" target=\"_blank\">Remember Hawaii\u2019s Health Care Lessons<\/a> &#8211; Sweetness &amp; Light<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;m hearing rumblings from various sources that the Democrats so called Public Health Insurance option is dead in the the Senate&#8230; The Associated Press is reporting that a bipartisan group of Senators is close to a compromise agreement that would eliminate the employer mandate and the public option, two of the Democrats top priorities from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[26,43,7],"tags":[1366,776,185],"class_list":["post-2550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-economy","category-health-care","category-politics","tag-health-care","tag-public-option","tag-senate","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-F8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3052,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/12\/09\/senate-democrats-reach-health-reform-compromise-drop-public-option\/","url_meta":{"origin":2550,"position":0},"title":"Senate Democrats Reach Health Reform Compromise; Drop Public Option","author":"Jeff","date":"December 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Wall Street Journal: Senior Senate Democrats reached tentative agreement Tuesday night to abandon the government-run insurance plan in their health-overhaul bill and to expand Medicare coverage to some people ages 55 to 64, clearing the most significant hurdle so far in getting a bill that can pass Congress.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Health Care&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Health Care","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/health-care\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2788,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/09\/29\/senate-finance-committee-rejects-public-option-twice\/","url_meta":{"origin":2550,"position":1},"title":"Senate Finance Committee Rejects Public Option &#8212; Twice","author":"Jeff","date":"September 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Senate Finance Committee rejected two amendments earlier today that would have add a government-run public health-insurance plan to the health care reform legislation currently before the committee: A key US committee on Tuesday rejected a push by liberal Democrats to have a government-run healthcare option included in the $856bn\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Health Care&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Health Care","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/health-care\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2833,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/07\/harry-reid-likely-to-make-entire-health-bill-an-amendment-to-unrelated-tax-bill-that-house-passed-in-march\/","url_meta":{"origin":2550,"position":2},"title":"Harry Reid &#8216;Likely&#8217; to Make Entire Health Bill an Amendment to Unrelated Tax Bill That House Passed in March","author":"Jeff","date":"October 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"CNSNews.com is reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry is 'likely' to use a tax bill passed by the House in March as shell for enacting the Senate health care bill: A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) told CNSNews.com that it is \u201clikely\u201d that Reid will use\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Health Care&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Health Care","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/health-care\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2888,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/27\/joe-lieberman-ill-block-vote-on-harry-reids-health-care-reform-plan\/","url_meta":{"origin":2550,"position":3},"title":"Joe Lieberman: I&#8217;ll Block Vote on Harry Reid&#8217;s Health Care Reform Plan","author":"Jeff","date":"October 27, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From Politico: Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Tuesday that he\u2019d back a GOP filibuster of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid\u2019s health care reform bill. Lieberman, who caucuses with Democrats and is positioning himself as a fiscal hawk on the issue, said he opposes any health care bill that includes a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Health Care&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Health Care","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/health-care\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2412,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/15\/lieberman-opposed-to-health-care-public-option\/","url_meta":{"origin":2550,"position":4},"title":"Lieberman Opposed to Health Care Public Option","author":"Jeff","date":"June 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Connecticut's junior Senator Joe Lieberman has had plenty of practice aggravating his fellow Democrats over the last few years and I suspect his remarks about health care reform this weekend will aggravate them a bit more. During an interview with Bloomberg News broadcast this weekend Sen. Lieberman expressed opposition to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Health Care&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Health Care","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/health-care\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2980,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/10\/house-passes-health-care-refore-bill\/","url_meta":{"origin":2550,"position":5},"title":"House Passes Health Care Refore Bill","author":"Jeff","date":"November 10, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I meant to post this yesterday but it slipped through the cracks of what was another manic Monday. The House of Representatives passed Nancy Pelosi's 1,990 page health care reform bill by a vote of 220 to 215 on Saturday night. The House of Representatives late Saturday night approved a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}