It’s official. The Senate has dropped the public option from their health care proposal.
Sen. Harry Reid made the announcement Tuesday night after days of negotiations.
He’s still calling it a public option, but what Senators have struck a deal on is a far cry from the government run plan proposed last month.
The plan, devised by a group of moderate and liberal Senators, would replace the government run option with national plans modeled after the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program.
The plan would also expand Medicare to people age 55 and older.
“It is a consensus that includes a public option and will help ensure the American people win in two ways,” Reid said. “One, insurance companies will face more competition, and two, the American people will have more choices.”
The plan was sent to the Congressional Budget Office for a cost analysis.
While Reid declared the Senate had reached “broad consensus” on the plan, he has yet to come up with the 60 votes to pass it. Liberals in particular are angry about having to compromise on the public option.
“While I appreciate the willingness of all parties to engage in good-faith discussions, I do not support proposals that would replace the public option in the bill with a purely private approach,” Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., said. “We need to have some competition for the insurance industry to keep rates down and save taxpayer dollars. I will base my vote on the bill on the entirety of what is in the bill, and whether I think the bill is good for Wisconsin.”
