Members of Congress are responding to what appeared to be a recent downplaying of a public insurance option in health care reform legislation by the Obama Administration. House Congressional Progressive Caucus members Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), and Barbara Lee (D-CA) have forwarded a strongly worded letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stating, "To take the public option off the table would be a grave error; passage in the House of Representatives depends upon inclusion of it."

Congressman Grijalva also stated on the Caucus' website, "The public option is central to health care reform. Real reform, which lowers costs and ensures all Americans get the quality, affordable health care that they deserve, cannot be accomplished without a robust public option. As we have stated repeatedly for months now, a majority of the members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus will oppose any health care reform legislation that does not include a robust public option. Our position has not, and will not, change."

The letter is in response to Secretary Sebelius' remarks Sunday in which she appeared to comment that a public plan option was not an "essential element" of health care reform legislation. Secretary Sebelius has since stated in remarks during a Medicare Conference Tuesday that the Administration still wants a public option in any health care legislation. Sebelius said, "Here's the bottom-line: absolutely nothing has changed. We continue to support the public option that will help lower costs, give American consumers more choice, and keep private insurers honest. If people have other ideas about how to accomplish these goals, we'll look at those too, but the public option is a very good way to do this."

DOTmed News reported as long ago as the president's July 22 news conference that he surprisingly did not mention a public option in his opening remarks enumerating his priorities for health care reform. (See DM 9741.)

In addition, after President Obama's comments during a Town Hall meeting last Saturday, the administration also seemed to de-emphasize the public option. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answered queries regarding the public option by stating the Administration's opinion has not been changed. He said, "...we have a goal of fostering choice and competition in a private health insurance market. The president prefers the public option as a way of doing that. If others have ideas, we're open to those ideas and willing to listen to those details. That's what the president has said for months. Coincidentally that's what the Secretary of Health and Human Services has said for months. It's what I've said for months. I think the suggestion somehow that anything that was said Saturday or Sunday as being new administration policy is just not something that I would agree with."

Sources:

The Congressional Progressive Caucus' letter to Secretary Sebelius may be accessed at: http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=512&ParentID=0&SectionID=107&SectionTree=107&lnk=b&ItemID=510

Adapted in part from the White House press briefing and Congressman Grijalva's statement.

Link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Briefing-by-White-House-Press-Secretary-Robert-Gibbs-8/18/09/

http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?ContentID=511&ParentID=0&SectionID=107&SectionTree=107&lnk=b&ItemID=509

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