House Progressives Call Out Obama on Public Option

Democrats may be headed for intra-party battle
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 4, 2009 8:40 AM CDT
House Progressives Call Out Obama on Public Option
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., talks about health care funds in action during a visit to the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless' Stout Street Clinic in Denver, Colo., Aug. 6, 2009.   (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)

House progressives have told President Obama that they “cannot vote for anything less” than health-care legislation with a “robust public option”—all but threatening a showdown if, as seems likely, the White House doesn’t push for a public plan, Talking Points Memo reports. The California lawmakers who head the Congressional Progressive Caucus have asked for a meeting with Obama to discuss the issue “as soon as possible.”

“Any bill that does not provide, at a minimum, a public option built on the Medicare provider system and with reimbursement based on Medicare rates—not negotiated rates—is unacceptable,” wrote Lynn Woolsey and Raul Grijalva. The matter could lead to a “rift in the Democratic Party,” TPM notes. Two House committees passed legislation with public options informed by Medicare, but the Energy and Commerce Committee plan lacks it.
(More President Obama stories.)

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