Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) met with President Obama at the White House last night "to inform him of his inclination" to add the public option to the health care reform bill, the New York Times reports.
Reid "did not specifically ask the president to endorse that approach... Mr. Obama asked questions, but did not express a preference at the meeting."
However, as word of Reid's intention spread, "centrist senators from
both parties said they had come together in an informal group to resist
creation of a uniform nationwide public insurance program."
The Wall Street Journal reports Reid's proposal "grows from negotiations between top Senate Democrats
and the White House over how best to marry the Finance panel's version
with more-liberal legislation approved by the Senate health committee
in July."
"The sailing was considerably smoother in the House," reports the Washington Post, "where work was
nearly complete on a package that would cover 35 million more Americans
by expanding Medicaid, the government health plan for the poor, and
creating exchanges where low- and moderate-income people could shop for
insurance and apply for federal subsidies. The exchanges would offer
policies from private firms, as well as a public plan that would keep
premiums low by paying providers at rates linked to Medicare."
However, Politico reports House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "counted votes Thursday night and determined she
could not pass a 'robust public option' -- the most aggressive of the
three forms of a public option House Democrats have been considering as
part of a national overhaul of health care."
