Health Care For America Now

NEWS

Reid says bill will include a public option - Washington Post

Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid announced Monday that he will include a government-backed insurance plan in the chamber's health-care reform legislation, a key concession to liberals who have threatened to oppose a bill without such a public option.

Unions win concessions but fight on - The Hill

Organized labor is flexing its muscle in Senate negotiations over healthcare reform and winning important concessions from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Durbin: Progressives Forced Our Hand On Public Option - Huffington Post

Democratic leaders were forced to include a national public health insurance option as part of health care reform by progressive Democratic senators who refused to support anything less, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Monday.

Liberals to Barack Obama: Time to step up - Politico

Now that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has announced he’ll try to push through a health care reform bill with a public option, liberals are turning their focus — and their frustrations — on Barack Obama, the man who brought them to the outskirts of the progressive promise land.

Republicans impatient with leaders, awaiting healthcare alternative - The Hill

Some House Republicans are growing frustrated that their leaders have not yet introduced a healthcare reform alternative.

BlueCross BlueShield Opposes Reforms That Would Cut Into Their Monopoly - Media Matters

In an attempt to drum up opposition to Democratic proposals for health care reform, one of the country's biggest private insurers has sent a mailer (with prepaid return postage!) to incite its policyholders to fight against reform.

OPINION

The Public Option Lives. Wow. - Jon Cohn

By now you've heard the news: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will be including an "opt-out" variation on the public plan in the health care bill he brings to the Senate floor.

Game On - Mike Lux

Okay, folks, we progressives got what we wanted. A comprehensive health care reform bill with a reasonably strong public option will be going to the floor as part of leadership bills in both the House and the Senate. We don't yet know whether we will get the best version of the public option in the House bill, and the Senate version is not as strong as progressives have been pushing for. But strengthening the form of the public option can be negotiated over in conference committee, once we get there.

Snowe Removal - The Daily Beast

The latest polls show Olympia Snowe’s health-care vote hurts her with Republicans in Maine. The right wing is stepping up pressure. But the GOP’s last moderate is a tough target.

An interview with Sen. Sherrod Brown: 'Reid listened to his senators' - Ezra Klein

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) has been one of the Senate's leaders on the public option. His strategy, in large part, has been to emphasize how many Democrats support the idea, in comparison to the few that oppose it. Today, his work paid off, and the Senate will be considering a bill with a version of a national public option. I spoke to Sen. Brown about whether this is a good compromise, what will happen with Olympia Snowe, and why Democrats don't talk about Medicare more. A lightly edited transcript follows.