Following the President's historic address to Congress last week regarding the need for health care reform legislation, the responses have come in fast and furious to keep the debate continuing, including from the "Gang of Six" Senate Finance Committee Members currently working on drafting a bipartisan health care reform bill.

Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME), one of the six committee members, expressed appreciation for President Obama's vision and bipartisan commitment, but disapproval of Obama's support of a public health insurance option: "...I continue to oppose the inclusion of a public option in any package, I would have preferred that the issue were taken off the table as I have urged the President -- given that any bill with a public option will not pass the Senate and this divisive subject is unnecessarily delaying our ability to reach common ground." Senator Snowe further commented that all Senate Republicans, as well as some Democrats, do not support a public option. She concluded by agreeing with the President that costs of health care need to be contained "...including common sense initiatives related to medical malpractice -- and to make certain that health reform does not add to the deficit."

Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), another committee member, released a statement applauding the President's discussion of the health care crisis in the U.S. "He made the case for why we need to act to lower skyrocketing health care costs and make quality health care coverage affordable and widely available," Baucus said. He acknowledged the Committee's year-long work on reform and emphasized the need to act on legislation. He indicated that he would release a version of a bill next week and begin voting in the Finance Committee the following week.

Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) also found the president's remarks more divisive on reform issues, saying that Obama should have taken a public option off the table instead of leaving it up to a divided Congress. "The speech could have been pivotal for bipartisanship if it had been clear-cut in ruling out the prospect of a new government-run plan," Sen. Grassley said. "By leaving it up to Congress, where key leaders in both the House and Senate support a government-run plan and control the ultimate outcome, the President passed up a big opportunity."

However, the president has not slowed in his push for reform since the speech. Speaking at the Target Center in Minneapolis, MN a couple of days after his congressional address, Obama made efforts to demonstrate that the health insurance reform benefits did not only affect those in poverty but also middle-class Americans who don't receive employer coverage, or those with pre-existing conditions. The president mentioned a new Treasury Department report showing that nearly half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health coverage at some point over the next 10 years.

After recounting some stories of citizens who have struggled with insurance coverage, the president had some "good news" for the crowd: "We are closer now to reform than we've ever been. We've debated this issue for better than a year now. And there's actually some solid agreement on about 80 percent of what needs to be done. That's never happened before...our overall efforts have been supported by an unprecedented coalition of doctors and nurses and hospitals and seniors' groups -- even drug companies, many of whom were opposed to reform in the past."

The same day, the president held his weekly address in which he said he would "refuse to allow" the future predicted by the Treasury report to occur. "In the United States of America, no one should have to worry that they'll go without health insurance -- not for one year, not for one month, not for one day. And once I sign my health reform plan into law -- they won't," Obama stated.

He then reiterated the basics of his plan for reform: security for those who have insurance, affordable choices for those who do not, lower health care costs, no forced changes for those who have insurance; outlawing insurance company denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions, dropping coverage due to sickness, arbitrary caps on coverage and limits on out-of-pocket expenses. He also emphasized that the plan would not increase the deficit or lead to higher taxes for the middle-class.

Read more:

Senator Snowe's statement can be accessed at: http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=a19a7ace-802a-23ad-4a1e-3272c02ce7d6

Senator Baucus' statement can be accessed at: http://finance.senate.gov/press/Bpress/2009press/prb090909a.pdf

Senator Grassley's statement can be accessed at: http://finance.senate.gov/press/Gpress/2009/prg090909a.pdf

The transcript of the President's remarks in Minnesota can be accessed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Rally-on-Health-Insurance-Reform/

The transcript of the President's weekly addressed can be accessed at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Weekly-Address-President-Obama-Highlights-New-Treasury-Report-on-Instability-of-Health-Insurance-in-America/