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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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White House ready to drop 'public option' in health care
Source: Agencies |
August 17, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
APPARENTLY ready to abandon the idea, United States President Barack Obama's health secretary said yesterday a government-run alternative to private health insurance is "not the essential element" of the administration's health care overhaul.
The White House indicated it could jettison the contentious public option and settle on nonprofit insurance cooperatives as an acceptable alternative, a move embraced by some Republicans lawmakers who have strongly opposed the administration's approach so far.
Officials from both political parties reached across the aisle in an effort to find compromises on proposals they left behind when they returned to their districts for an August recess. Obama has been pressing for the government to run a health insurance organization to help cover the almost 50 million uninsured Americans.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the White House would be open to insurance co-ops instead of a government-run public option, a sign Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory on the must-win showdown.
"I think there will be a competitor to private insurers," she said. "That's really the essential part, is you don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition."
Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, said co-ops might be a politically acceptable alternative as "a step away from the government takeover of the health care system" that Republicans have assailed.
Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate's budget committee, pushed the co-op model as an alternative, saying it has worked in other business models.
As proposed by Conrad, the co-ops would receive federal startup money, but then would operate independently of the government. They would have to maintain the same financial reserves that private companies are required to keep to handle unexpectedly high claims.
Republicans say a public option would have unfair advantages that would drive private insurers out of business. Critics say co-ops would not be genuine public options for health insurance.
The White House indicated it could jettison the contentious public option and settle on nonprofit insurance cooperatives as an acceptable alternative, a move embraced by some Republicans lawmakers who have strongly opposed the administration's approach so far.
Officials from both political parties reached across the aisle in an effort to find compromises on proposals they left behind when they returned to their districts for an August recess. Obama has been pressing for the government to run a health insurance organization to help cover the almost 50 million uninsured Americans.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the White House would be open to insurance co-ops instead of a government-run public option, a sign Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory on the must-win showdown.
"I think there will be a competitor to private insurers," she said. "That's really the essential part, is you don't turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing. We need some choices, we need some competition."
Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, said co-ops might be a politically acceptable alternative as "a step away from the government takeover of the health care system" that Republicans have assailed.
Senator Kent Conrad of North Dakota, chairman of the Senate's budget committee, pushed the co-op model as an alternative, saying it has worked in other business models.
As proposed by Conrad, the co-ops would receive federal startup money, but then would operate independently of the government. They would have to maintain the same financial reserves that private companies are required to keep to handle unexpectedly high claims.
Republicans say a public option would have unfair advantages that would drive private insurers out of business. Critics say co-ops would not be genuine public options for health insurance.
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