As Democratic leaders met with President Obama at the White House, their vote counters were still trying to figure out on Thursday how many members were in the "yes" column when it comes to health care reform.
And there were conflicting signals for those watching the hallways of the Capitol as well.
Democrats in the House have been doing all they can in recent days to foster a sense of inevitability about health care reform - that it is going to be approved by the Congress.
"We will have a bill that will go to the floor, and it will have a public option in it," said Speaker Nancy Pelosi at a news conference.
"And there is support in our Caucus to do that; I have said that over and over again and I stand by it. The question is, what form does that (public option) take? "
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
Friday, October 23, 2009
No Health Amendments?
At the end of a Friday morning news conference on health care reform, Speaker Nancy Pelosi raised the possibility of not allowing any amendments to be offered on the House floor to the Democratic health care bill.
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
SOURCE: Jamie Dupree
Pelosi: New Flexibility for House on Public Option
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday that new momentum behind a public insurance option in the Senate is giving House Democrats more flexibility in structuring their version of the proposal.
“The atmosphere has changed,” Pelosi said at a news conference. “When we were dealing with the idea that the Senate would have nothing, it was really important to go in again with the most muscle for the middle class with a robust public option.”
Pelosi’s remarks came as her staff pushed back on Friday reports that she has decided to ditch a public insurance option pegged to Medicare rates — the approach preferred by liberals — after a three-day whip effort revealed it lacks the necessary support. Pelosi said no decision has been made on the issue, even as she made the case that her focus is on getting some form of the public option — whether pegged to Medicare or negotiated with providers — out of conference negotiations with the Senate. “This is about the endgame now,” she said.
SOURCE: The Hill
“The atmosphere has changed,” Pelosi said at a news conference. “When we were dealing with the idea that the Senate would have nothing, it was really important to go in again with the most muscle for the middle class with a robust public option.”
Pelosi’s remarks came as her staff pushed back on Friday reports that she has decided to ditch a public insurance option pegged to Medicare rates — the approach preferred by liberals — after a three-day whip effort revealed it lacks the necessary support. Pelosi said no decision has been made on the issue, even as she made the case that her focus is on getting some form of the public option — whether pegged to Medicare or negotiated with providers — out of conference negotiations with the Senate. “This is about the endgame now,” she said.
SOURCE: The Hill
Public health-insurance option gains speed
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is moving toward including a public health-insurance option in the final bill he will send to the floor, senators briefed on the issue said Thursday, putting a dramatic end to a week of steadily gaining momentum for the lightning-rod provision.
Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said they had been told that Reid and others negotiating the final bill are considering the plan.
"I'm not part of those discussions. What I'm hearing is that this is the direction of the conversation," said Conrad, who supports an alternative approach under which nonprofit co-ops would compete with private industry.
"I keep hearing there is a lot of leaning toward some sort of national public option, unfortunately, from my standpoint," Nelson said.
The White House declined to comment.
SOURCE: Denver Post
Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said they had been told that Reid and others negotiating the final bill are considering the plan.
"I'm not part of those discussions. What I'm hearing is that this is the direction of the conversation," said Conrad, who supports an alternative approach under which nonprofit co-ops would compete with private industry.
"I keep hearing there is a lot of leaning toward some sort of national public option, unfortunately, from my standpoint," Nelson said.
The White House declined to comment.
SOURCE: Denver Post
Optional public option enters Senate health care talks
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Democratic leaders met Thursday night with White House officials to consider including a government-funded public health insurance option, along with a provision allowing states to opt out of it, in a health care overhaul bill.
Sen. Olympia Snowe has been the only GOP supporter of health care legislation.
Two senior Democratic Senate sources told CNN that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leaning toward a public option with the state opt-out provision in the Senate health care bill that will reach the full chamber in coming weeks.
According to one source familiar with the White House meeting, the matter was discussed with President Obama but no decisions were made.
SOURCE: CNN
Sen. Olympia Snowe has been the only GOP supporter of health care legislation.
Two senior Democratic Senate sources told CNN that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leaning toward a public option with the state opt-out provision in the Senate health care bill that will reach the full chamber in coming weeks.
According to one source familiar with the White House meeting, the matter was discussed with President Obama but no decisions were made.
SOURCE: CNN
Healthcare for Christmas: Reid under pressure to slow down
The healthcare reform debate will be pushed deep into December and possibly beyond by a lengthy floor debate, several senators predicted Thursday.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is under pressure from a group of centrist Republicans and Democrats who are demanding a go-slow approach.
SOURCE: The Hill
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is under pressure from a group of centrist Republicans and Democrats who are demanding a go-slow approach.
SOURCE: The Hill
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