Health Locker

Twentyseven Democratic Senators have signed onto a “sense of the Senate” resolution demanding that a government-run health plan be included in whatever health care reform bill emerges from Congress. Staking out the liberal position for what will be one of the most controversial elements of this year’s health care reform debate, the Senators define a public health insurance option as “essential to reform” according to a report on Politico.com.

Of course, there are government-run plans and then there are government-run plans. As Politico reports, Senator Max Baucus, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, has said that while he expects any comprehensive health care reform legislation emerging from his committee to include a public plan this shouldn’t frighten opponents. “There are says to skin a cat. There are ways to find a solution,” the site quotes him as saying. One option under consideration, for example, is a “‘fallback’ plan, which would trigger a public insurance option if private competition proves inadequate in a geographic region.”

Most Republicans and many moderate Democrats have said they would oppose a health care reform bill if it includes a government-run health plan to compete with private carriers. Whether they would accept the idea of such a plan as a “fallback” is unknown.

Among those co-sponsoring the resolution are several important players in the health care reform debate. For example, Senator Edward Kennedy chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee which will, along with the Senate Finance Committee, is drafting health care reform legislation. And Senators Dick Durbin and Charles Schumer are members of the Democrat’s leadership team in the Senate. Missing from the list are any members of the Moderate Dems Working Group — 18 Democrats (including one independent) who may seek to block inclusion of a government-run plan in health care reform legislation.

The 27 Senators listed by Politico as co-sponsoring the sense of the Senate resolution are:
Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)
Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.),
Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)
Roland W. Burris (D-Ill.)
Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.).
Bob Casey (D-Pa.)
Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)
Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.)
Tom Harkin (D-Iowa),
Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii)
Ted Kaufman (D-Del.)
Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.)
Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.)
Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
Carl Levin (D-Mich.)
Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.)
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.)
Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.)
Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.)
Jack Reed (D-R.I.)
Bernie Sanders (I-Vt. – an independent, Senator Sanders caucuses with Democrats)
Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.)
Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)
Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.)
Tom Udall (D-N.M.)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)