CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
– CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS
April 27, 2009 – 6:11 p.m.
Progressive Caucus Will Pitch Public Option for Health Care in Meeting With Obama
By Alan K. Ota, CQ Staff
Progressive Democrats plan to remind President Barack Obama of his liberal roots in a meeting Tuesday and press him to deliver on an expanded federal role in providing health care coverage.
Obama has caught the attention of liberals by wooing centrists and vowing to cut deals on issues such as health care. Last month, he raised eyebrows when he described himself as a New Democrat at a meeting with members of the more moderate New Democrat Coalition.
Now, liberals are pressing Obama to make sure that any deal includes a government alternative to private insurers. Raúl M. Grijalva , D-Ariz., co-chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, says the 78-member group will push for a government-run insurance option in a scheduled meeting at the White House.
“Some of our members want a single-payer system. But at a minimum, as a caucus, we want a public plan option,” Grijalva said. He and Lynn Woolsey , D-Calif., another CPC co-chairman, warned party leaders in an April 2 letter that CPC members “will not support legislation that does not include a public plan option.”
For his part, Obama hopes to drum up support for his $83.4 billion request of supplemental war funds. Grijalva said he and some other progressives were undecided and wanted more details about growing military efforts in Afghanistan.
Grijalva said progressives see Obama as an ally based on triumphs such as the economic stimulus law (PL 111-5) and an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (PL 111-3). Now, they want Obama to stick to his liberal game plan rather than veering to the center.
“It’s possible to be both a progressive and a New Democrat. Some lawmakers do that,” said Darcy Burner, the new executive director of the American Progressive Caucus Policy Foundation, a support group for the CPC.
“He can be many things to many people,” Grijalva said.
Comments
Any plan that doesnt include a very viable public option, is only a huge gift to the insurance industry, which has allowed so many to die in the name of profits. Single payer is best. I no public option is included, we are better off leaving it alone...
I want health care, not health insurance - make it work
It's time for HR676. I have Medicare, however I still pay for gap insurance. My premiums have doubled in the last two years. At this rate, I will soon have to drop my gap insurance. Americans already pay (are taxed)for single payer universal health care via outrageous for profit health insurance premiums and through increased costs of goods and services that result from employer based health care insurance. Unfortunately, employer based health care just makes our goods and services less competitive. The cost of health care will not begin to decline until we stop feeding a huge and unnecessary insurance company bureaucracy. Sure, some insurance people will lose their jobs but their jobs should never have existed at the expense of 47 million uninsured and untold thousands who have died or gone bankrupt because coverage was denied. It's cheaper, fairer, and more efficient to pay the tax (already imposed for the most part) to a single payer health care system that covers everyone. Health care is a basic human right. It is essential to write your congress people to let them know you support HR676. Members of Congress who say Americans are not ready for single payer universal health care have their hands in insurance company deep pockets. Visit Healthcare-Now.org
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