Saturday, October 17, 2009

Tell Harry Reid: Don't let the Baucus bill kill the public option


Tell Harry Reid: Don't let the Baucus bill kill the public option:

"On Tuesday, the Senate Finance Committee, led by Senator Max Baucus, passed a health care reform bill without provisions for a public health insurance option.

This opens the door to procedural shenanigans that could prevent the public option from ever being considered on the floor of the Senate, which would make it much harder for the public option to be included in the final bill that lands on the president's desk."

We can't sit back and let the public option die. Tell Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make sure a public option is included in the health care reform bill that goes to the floor of the Senate.

As the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid will lead a process to merge the Baucus bill with another health care reform bill passed by the Senate HELP Committee, which does include a public option. The product of this merger will go to the floor of the Senate for a vote.

Besides President Obama, there is nobody in a position to effectively oppose Senator Reid's decision should he choose to include provisions for a public option. But if Senator Reid does not include a public option in the merged bill, it will be difficult to insert the public option at a later stage of the process.

We have the votes to pass a public option in health care reform. We have to make sure the public option is not abandoned before a full Senate vote even takes place.

Join us in asking Senator Reid to keep the public option alive by including it in the bill that comes to the floor of the Senate.