Pelosi Steps Away from Public Option, Slightly: Might support a so-called "trigger"

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Thu Sep-03-09 04:10 PM
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Pelosi Steps Away from Public Option, Slightly: Might support a so-called "trigger"

Edited on Thu Sep-03-09 04:11 PM by Better Believe It

- Is it time for a knee and spine check? -

Pelosi Steps Away from Public Option, Slightly
By Major Garrett
September 3, 2009

For the first time in the white-hot debate over health care reform, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday spoke approvingly of a potential reform package that does not include a government-run insurance plan.

Until today, Pelosi has described the public option, backed aggressively by more than 100 liberal House Democrats, as a key ingredient to passage of any House health reform package. But today she acknowledged aggressive talks to substitute a "trigger" mechanism that would hold the public option in abeyance for several years so Congress could evaluate the performance of the insurance industry and its ability or willingness to expand coverage or lower premiums.

"That is true," Pelos said of stepped-up talks on a trigger mechanism as a replacement for the public option. "But I don't know what particulars are of the trigger. Here we have a situation where in the Kennedy bill in Senate, there is a public option -- it's not as strong as the public option in the House bill. If they want no public option, but a trigger, you can be sure that the trigger will bring on a very robust public option. So, if I were advising insurance companies, I'd tell them take this bill the way it is now."

Briefed on Pelosi's remarks, one White House aide involved in health care strategy said: "That sounds like a start. It sounds as if there are a lot of different options when it comes to a trigger."

The White House is eager for House Democrats to move away from the public option to give President Obama maximum negotiating room and to take one of the most contentious issues of the health care debate off the table. Pelosi's comments do not eliminate the public option entirely, but do give Democratic leadership voice, for the very first time, to a trigger as an acceptable alternative.

http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/09/03/pelosi-steps-away-from-public-option-slightly/

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- Senator Snowe has been discussing her public option "trigger" proposal with White House officials according to her spokeswoman, Julia Wanzco. -

Obama Stepping Into Congressional Health-Care Fight
By Julianna Goldman and James Rowley
September 3, 2009

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, one of the key Republican negotiators, has been in regular contact with the administration, her spokeswoman, Julia Wanzco, said.

Snowe and White House officials have been discussing her proposal, first made last spring, to adopt a government-run insurance plan only if private insurers don’t provide enough competition in some regional markets.

“Conversations are taking place on her safety-net fallback option as they have throughout the debate this year, as well as other approaches,” Wanzco said. She said Snowe and the administration have “an open line of communication.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=adoPR64vjadQ