House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., on Thursday said the House health care bill will include a strong public option, despite opposition from Republicans and some moderate Democrats that threatens the bill’s survival in the Senate.
“We will have a public option in the House that will be real,” Pelosi said. “If it’s not real, it’s no use doing. And if we don’t do a public option, I’m not sure that we have as effective a public health care reform as we wish.”
Pelosi said she was not worried about the disagreements over the bill. “The give and take, the back and forth of different ideas, you may call them snags, we call them the legislative process,” Pelosi said. “And this is a situation where everybody wants to hear everyone’s ideas, put it all on the table, see what it does for the American people, what is it that we can afford, establish our priorities. And that competition of ideas is why we all come here. We don’t all come here because we all think alike on every subject.”
Pelosi told reporters that the House would pass a health care bill with a public option that “adds to competition, does not eliminate competition. It may not be called a public option, but it will be a level playing field, public option by whatever name, level playing field. ”
The House is expected to unveil its version of a health care plan on Friday
