PUBLIC OPTION STILL VIABLE AS HOUSE SET TO PASS IT -- NOT "FADING", SAYS
ROBERT WEINER, FORMER HOUSE AGING COMMITTEE DIRECTOR
ROBERT WEINER
WEINER'S NEW YORK TIMES LETTER TODAY REFUTES CLAIMS OF DEATH OF PUBLIC
OPTION
(Washington, DC) - The Public Option is still viable as the House is
set to pass it --- "It is not 'fading' nor 'waning' (New York Times) nor
on 'life support' (ABC News)," says Robert Weiner, former Chief of Staff
for the House Aging Committee and its Health subcommittee, and later
spokesman for the White House National Drug Policy Office.
In a letter published in today's New York Times on what the Times called
the "the fading public option", Weiner states:
"I believe that the House will pass a bill with a public option, which
is strongly supported by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. There will be a big media
flurry when it does, so the compromises of triggers and time delays are
viable - in other words, a public option is not dead by any means.
"According to a CBS News poll, public support for the public option rose
from 57 percent to 68 percent after President Obama's speech last week.
"Americans want real reform to counter the insurance companies'
stranglehold, which makes people in the United States pay almost twice
as much as the rest of the world for medical care while we rank behind
44 other countries in infant mortality and behind 49 countries in life
expectancy.
"Moreover, a recent study of private insurers in California showed
denial of up to 40 percent of claims.
"The public option would result in true competition and would sharpen up
the insurance companies and the American health system."
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/opinion/l18health.html
Weiner added today, "House Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman, whose
bill as reported to the full House includes a public option, told me
last week, if the Senate passes a bill without a public option, 'Then we
go to conference.' Both other House committees reporting the health
reform bill to the floor also include a public option.
"That is the accurate statement. The public option is very much alive,
since half of the legislative process is set to include it," Weiner
concluded.
FULL TEXT OF LETTER:
The New York Times
September 18, 2009
To the Editor:
Re "
I believe that the House will pass a bill with a public option, which is
strongly supported by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. There will be a big media
flurry when it does, so the compromises of "triggers" and time delays
are viable - in other words, a public option is not dead by any means.
According to a CBS News poll, public support for the public option rose
from 57 percent to 68 percent after President Obama's speech last week.
Americans want real reform to counter the insurance companies'
stranglehold, which makes people in the United States pay almost twice
as much as the rest of the world for medical care while we rank behind
44 other countries in infant mortality and behind 49 countries in life
expectancy.
Moreover, a recent study of private insurers in California showed denial
of up to 40 percent of claims.
The public option would result in true competition and would sharpen up
the insurance companies and the American health system.
Robert S. Weiner
Washington, Sept. 13, 2009
The writer is a former chief of staff for the House Select Committee on
Aging and its Health and Long-Term Care Subcommittee.
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/18/opinion/l18health.html