TNR
Armed with favorable cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and emboldened, perhaps, by the self-destructive behavior of the health insurance lobby, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to propose that her caucus unite behind a reform bill with a strong public insurance option. She will do so at a Wednesday meeting of House Democrats, according to The Hill's Mike Soraghan, who was (I think) the first to report the story.
Pelosi's actions have provoked two very different reactions from within the reform community: Glee and fear.
The glee comes from people who think Pelosi is making a smart strategic move. Yes, a strong public plan remains a tough sell, particularly with centrists in the Senate. But precisely because the Senate will pull the bill to the right, it's critical that Pelosi pull it to the left while she can. The public option is gaining momentum right now, thanks to strong polling numbers and a realization, among members, that requiring people to get insurance is a bad idea if the available insurance options aren't very good.
It helps, too, that CBO has apparently determined the strong public option--which would pay at rates pegged to five percent above Medicare--could save somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 billion. Given what happened during the stimulus debate, when centrists in the Senate successfully pushed to scale back the bill, it'd be foolish of Pelosi not to anticipate that move.
(More here.)
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