For the third time in the last few months, there are rumors in Washington that President Obama is going to drop his support of the public health insurance option.
This has many of you worried. I’m a little worried, too. But I don’t still don’t think there is any reason to be freaking out right now.
There is reason to act. And that’s why I will be following this up with some action steps you can take on the public option. And I’m asking you to go to the list of Let’s Get it Done events and find one to go to in the next few days.
And now let me say a bit about what where health care reform, and the public option, stand right now.
First, we really don’t know what’s going on in President Obama’s mind. Every time we come to one of these junctures, leaks come out of the White House, some saying that the President is going to hang tough on the public option, some saying he is going to drop it. Some of those leaks are trial balloon, that is, attempts to gauge the potential reaction to one or another strategy. Some of those leaks are from people in the White House who want to move the President in one way or another. My guess—and it is only a guess—is that people on both sides are leaking, some from people who want to encourage the President to drop the public option and some people from people who support the public option and are leaking to ratchet up public support for it.
We will know where the President is when he speaks to us next week. As debates go on in the White House, the President may waiting to make up his mind.
Second, I want to make clear that HCAN and many people in Congress, including the leadership in our the House, our two Senators from Pennsylvania, and most of our Democratic Representatives from the state, continue to favor the public option.
The reason we all support the public option is that is, as Senator Casey keeps saying, it just makes sense.
New regulations on health insurance companies, credits to help the middle class afford health insurance, a requirement on businesses to provide health insurance to their employees, and a new health insurance exchange are all critical to reform.
But if we require millions of businesses and individuals to secure health insurance, without a public option, we run into two difficulties.
On the one hand, without competition from a public plan, health insurance is likely to be far more costly if we do not have a public option to provide competition for private insurance. These costs will be borne by individuals, businesses and the federal government which will have to increase subsidies to match the increased premiums.
On the other hand, without competition from a public plan, there is no guarantee that everyone will be able to secure insurance. The new regulations we support will help a great deal. But insurance companies and their lawyers will try to find every loophole in these regulations. Without a non-profit backup to private insurance, some people who need insurance may not get it.
Third, I don’t think President Obama is going to back down.
Again there are few reasons.
Giving up the public option is not going to win us many more votes. The right wing extremists have made it almost impossible for Republicans to support any element of the health care plan we have supported. Dropping the public option might help us pick up one or both of the Maine Senators. We might also gain the support of a couple of Democrats who have wavered on the public option. But we are talking about a few votes. We still won’t have broad bi-partisan support for health care reform. And while the White House may be concerned about the politics of moving a mostly Democratic bill—which we can do through the reconciliation process—if there is no real alternative, then we might as well get the best bill we can, one that will really guarantee all Americans quality affordable health care.
In addition, if President Obama backs down on the public option, the right wing attack on the rest of the plan will not stop. They want to kill more than the public option. They want to make regulations weaker and reduce the level of middle class subsidies in the program. Backing down on the public option undermines the movement for health care reform.
And finally, if the public option is removed from the plan, that will hurt our ability to organize on behalf of the President’s program. I know that many of you understand that there is more than the public option to health care reform. However, some activists are really committed to the public option and a White House retreat will take some of the energy out of movement, at a time when we need that energy level to be increasing.
I believe that the political team in the White House understands all this and that President Obama will as well.
So I urge you to keep fighting for health care reform in general and for the public option in general.