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The announcement by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) this week that he was submitting a merged health care reform bill with a public option and "opt-out" provision for the states was the impetus for much commentary this week (DM 10582). The question now is if Reid can get enough votes--60 senators, which would likely have to include independents and/or some Republicans--for a filibuster-proof vote.

Reid held another press conference this week with Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT), Max Baucus (D-MT), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Reid pointed out the senators all came from different places ideologically and geographically, but stand together with a strong belief that now is the time to pass health care legislation. "We're all committed to delivering meaningful reform to a system that's really broken," Reid said. "We all support the public option with a state opt-out as a wise path forward. Our public option isn't a left proposal or a right proposal. This is a consensus, a compromise that represents months of hard work and debate and will benefit all Americans."

Senator Rockefeller then commented, "I've been working on health care for all 25 years I've been here...and what you're struck by is the opportunity we have here to put the momentum for health care in the hands of the people who need it rather than the insurance companies who profit from it."

"I'm so pleased we that have a strong public option in this bill," Senator Dodd concluded. "I commend the leader for that. This is not easy but he struck a balance between the public option and the state opting out. And my hope is we can sustain that. Because I think it's critically important if we are going to bring down those costs, and provide that kind of choice Americans want, the ability to have more choices about what kind of policies they'd like to have cover their needs."

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-MT) stated earlier on the Senate Finance Committee website: "It is time to make our system work better for patients and providers, for small business owners and for our economy...I included a public option in the health reform blueprint I released nearly one year ago, and continue to support any provision, including a public option, that will ensure choice and competition and get the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate. Success should be our threshold and I am going to fight hard for the 60 votes we need to meet that goal this year."

But Senate Finance Committee counterpart Chuck Grassley (R-IA) had criticism for the pending health care legislation: "...some of the supporters of these partisan bills may not want to tell their constituents we all know that as national spending on health care increases, American families will bear the burden in the form of higher premiums," Grassley said. "So let me be very clear, as a result of the current pending health care proposals, most Americans will pay higher premiums for health insurance."

Grassley is not the only critic. On his website, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the Republican Senate Leader, also had strong words. "After months of hearing that Americans don't want government-run health care, Democrat leaders in Washington have made their decision. They're going to include it in their health care bill, whether Americans want it or not. Supporters of the government-run plan say they're only advocating one more option among many. What they don't say is that the option they're advocating would soon be the only option. The others would fade away....Private health plans would fade away because a government-run plan would use the deep pockets of the federal government to set artificially low prices, or absorb a loss, making it impossible for private plans to compete. Private plans would either become so expensive that only the very wealthy could afford them, or they'd go out of business altogether." McConnell went on to say that in the current economy, this is the wrong time to have a bill that would cost over a trillion dollars.

This week Robert Gibbs, Presidential Press Secretary, did not have many specific comments on the President's take on the bill, but told reporters that the president is working to ensure the bill gets through. When asked if he thought there was enough support for the bill, Gibbs said that was a question for Senator Reid. Concerning the possibility that Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) might join Republicans on a filibuster, Gibbs stated, "I haven't seen the report from Senator Lieberman or why he's saying what he's saying. I think Democrats and Republicans alike will be held accountable by their constituents who want to see health care reform enacted this year. We see it in the polling that you guys do every day that they want the system, as it is now, to be fixed to ensure accessibility for those that don't have it, for cutting costs for those who do, and for important insurance reforms like preexisting conditions to be addressed. And we know that if that doesn't happen, people say they'll be very disappointed by that, and we think people will make progress to ensure that this gets done."

Finally, one such poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that public support for a public option has gained since last month. According to the poll, fifty-five percent of Americans believe that taking care of health reform now is more important than ever, while 41 percent say the country cannot afford it right now, similar to last month's poll. A little more than half those polled say the country will be better off if reform passes.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs' remarks can be accessed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/gaggle-press-secretary-robert-gibbs-aboard-air-force-one-en-route-norfolk-virginia-

Senator Baucus' statement can be accessed at: http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb102609.pdf

Senator Grassley's statement can be accessed at:
http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2009/prg102709.pdf

The Senators statements can be accessed at: http://democrats.senate.gov/multimedia/

Senator McConnell's statement can be accessed at: http://mcconnell.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=319397&start=1

The Kaiser poll can be accessed at: http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/posr102309nr.cfm#at