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.

More Industry Headlines