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Oct 23 2009, 6:08 pm by Marc Ambinder

White House Denies Report That It Wants To Weaken Public Plan

The White House is denying reports that officials are pressuring Sen. Harry Reid to scale back the scope of the "public option" that'll be attached to the Senate health insurance bill.  Talking Points Memo reported, based on unnamed sources close to the negotiations, that the White House is "skeptical" of a public option that includes a state opt-out choice, preferring -- and advocating for -- a public option that would kick in only if the private exchange failed to lower costs.

"The report is false. The White House continues to work with the Senate on the merging of the two  bills," said Dan Pfeiffer, a top White House aide whose portfolio includes health care. "We are making good progress toward enacting comprehensive health reform."

TPM notes that Sen, Jay Rockefeller sent out a seemingly unprompted press release rejecting the "trigger" option.  It claims that the White House's pressure on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is based on President Obama's desire to accommodate the wishes of Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), who supports a trigger-only public plan and who voted "yes" on the Senate Finance Committee's health care draft.

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Comments (12)

Matt Carter

Thanks Marc, again, for some actual sourced reporting. You're not first on this story, but by doing this properly, you're the most trustable journalist on it.

san diego real estate

Many journalists have posted a lot of stories on the very topic and each says that it is from the actual source. Now only the senate or President could answer that whose right... lolx
Regards,
Earvin James - san diego real estate

mesquito66

Most days I don't think the White House knows what it wants.

Paul in Athens (Replying to: mesquito66)

They know just after Nancy tells them what they want.

ottovbvs (Replying to: mesquito66)

...I think they know what they want, they are just not juvenile enough to think the process of passing legislation like this is a straight line.......that's the problem with way too much comment about this from the media, who are engaged in scriptwriting entertaining conflict scenarios, and bloggers who invariably take a totally un-nuanced view usually because they are unhappy with what is being done.

LordMike

Very weak sauce... that is a non-denial denial if I've ever seen one. What, exactly, are they claiming is false? What is the president's position? What is he against?

It's nice that they got a named source, but the statement says absolutely nothing.

MJAN (Replying to: LordMike)

If the enemy doesn't know your position, they don't know where to attack.

By not staking ground on this, the President is preventing the Republicans, anti-reformers, etc. from targeting their fire. Instead they're just left to swing wildly at everything.

Gridlock

"The report is false. The White House continues to work with the Senate on the merging of the two bills," said Dan Pfeiffer, a top White House aide whose portfolio includes health care."

.. well of course they're going to be merged, that isn't in question is it. What IS in question is whether or not a robust public option will be in it!

"We are making good progress toward enacting comprehensive health reform."

... yes, the usual vague platitudes.

So they didn't say anything new, nor did they confirm or deny the presence of a robust public option in the merged bill.

Parse, Parse, Parse.

TycheSD (Replying to: Gridlock)

What is the "robust public option" and who will have access to it?

Paul in Athens (Replying to: Gridlock)

What is, in your mind, a "robust public option"?
What health care services will it cover, and what will it cost.
What do you expect to receive in benefits, and what do you expect to pay in premiums?

And please, by all means, be specific.

TycheSD

No answers yet from Gridlock or anyone else about the "robust public option." Does anyone know what it is and how much it will cost?

PorkBelly (Replying to: TycheSD)

What is generally referred to as the robust public option is the one based on Medicare reimbursement rates + 5%.

It will be available through the exchange to the unemployed or people who work for a small business (what constitutes a small business is still being debated; I've heard the figure of 400K payrolls or less).

The CBO is still scoring the different plans, if I'm not mistaken.