2.  Reid: We're Keeping the Public Option

Democratic aides have announced that Senate health care legislation will include a public option, ending weeks of speculation and debate about the proposal. Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected to declare later today that while the Senate health care bill will include a public option, it will also give states the ability to opt-out if they so choose. "The public option, with an opt-out, is the one that's fair," Reid stated. The legislation that will be introduced later today is the final – if incomplete—version of two different Senate health care bills that Reid has been working to combine. According to the Huffington Post, the proposal is designed to appeal to conservative Democrats, who can "vote in favor of ending a GOP filibuster… but then vote against the public option later when the matter is debated on the floor, and only 50 votes are needed for victory." The move to include an opt-out feature has been contested by progressives, who see the measure as an obstacle to universal health care. Reid is now faced with the challenge of getting 60 senators to vote for the bill. This may be especially difficult as some, including Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have expressed concern about a public option.

Read original story in Associated Press | Monday, Oct. 26, 2009