Public Option: Preferred but Not Essential?
Published by Pamela Gentry on Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 11:57 pm.By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst
Aug. 19, 2009 – The question remains; will the president sign a bill that does not have a public insurance option offered by the federal government? That’s the question lingering and causing controversy and confusion – and Congress is waiting to hear President Obama’s answer.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was drilled Tuesday on what is being characterized as a major shift in policy by the president. Gibbs insisted the president maintains his support for a public option calling it the “preferred” method of reaching his goals, but declined to say it was “essential.”
“He [the president]cannot envision a scenario in which we live with anything that doesn’t provide choice and competition in a private insurance market that allows people to get the best deal possible on both the price and quality if they enter a private health insurance market,” Gibbs insisted.
“That’s what the President’s bottom line is: Do we have a system that provides that choice for consumers and that competition among insurers on quality and cost?”
But the bottom line for those Democrats who wanted a single payer system, like the Medicare program, feel they’ve already compromised by accepting the public option and won’t vote for a bill without it.
Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings wants the president to stick to word, “President Obama has emphasized the importance of the public option in the past, and we cannot afford to drop such a critical component of reform in favor of another option that isn’t guaranteed to make any significant difference in the status quo.”
Concerns about the status quo are a reality if the survey by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is any indication. The results of the monthly poll to determine consumer confidence in their health insurance coverage and access to care dropped across the board in July.
More than half, 51.9 percent of those surveyed are worried they won’t be able to afford the cost of a serious illness; 41 percent are concerned they won’t be able to pay for routine health care; and 35.6 percent are concerned they won’t be able to afford prescription drugs they need.
Are you concerned about your health care coverage now or the near future?
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ns into thinking a public option would drive private insures out of business and be the precursor to a national health care program. 
