Senate Finance Committee to examine Public plan options behind close doors
14 05 09 - 13:38
Panel set to take up health care overhaul
By THOMAS BEAUMONT - DesMoinesRegister.com
Washington, D.C. - Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said the Finance Committee's closed-door session on health care today would show whether Republicans are unified against including a public plan in health care legislation.
However, Grassley, the powerful committee's ranking Republican, said he does not expect members to rule the thorny provision in or out during the meeting today.
"We will have an idea how controversial it is and how strong people feel about it on both sides," Grassley told reporters Wednesday. "And that's some indication."
He added, "And I think before I would write it off completely, I would want to look at what those possible compromises are."
Grassley has said Republicans are hesitant to support a government-run option as part of legislation to cover all Americans with health insurance.
Grassley has said he believes that such an option would drive Americans out of private plans.
Still, he has pledged to keep the option on the negotiating table, in hopes of arriving at a bill that could receive broad bipartisan support in the Democrat-controlled Congress.
But news Tuesday that Medicare, the federal health insurance program for seniors, was closer to insolvency than previously projected seemed to bolster Grassley's public opposition to a government-run piece.
"We can't afford the public plan we already have," he said. "And if we create a government-run health care plan that's unaffordable and unsustainable, it isn't going to be any good for anyone."
An annual report by the Social Security and Medicare trustees showed Medicare is paying out more than it receives and it will be insolvent by 201 - two years earlier than last forecast.
Senate Republicans were expected to meet privately Wednesday to discuss health care in advance of today's Finance Committee session.
Grassley and committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana expect to have a bill to the committee next month, with the hope of having it to the Senate floor in July.