The New Media Journal | House Democrats Pessimistic About Public Option

The New Media Journal | House Democrats Pessimistic About Public Option: "House Democrats aren't optimistic that a government insurance plan, a central element of health care legislation passed in their chamber, will survive negotiations with the Senate.

While insisting 'it's not dead,' Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said Sunday he recognizes realities in the Senate, where Democrats had to scrape up every vote from their side to pass a bill - even one without a government plan to compete in the private insurance marketplace.

'Before the House was to give up the public option, we would want to be persuaded that there are other mechanisms in whatever bill comes out that will keep down premiums,' said Van Hollen. 'We've got to make sure that the final product is affordable.'

Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the No. 3 Democrat in the House and one who had appealed to President Barack Obama not to yield on the public plan, set out conditions for yielding himself.

'We want a public option to do basically three things: Create more choice for insurers, create more competition for insurance companies, and to contain costs,' Clyburn said. 'So if we can come up with a process by which these three things can be done, then I'm all for it. Whether or not we label it a public option or not is of no consequence.'

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), underscored the divisions Democrats will need to bridge when negotiators from the House and Senate meet next month to reconcile the two bills. He said there will need to be more give on the House side than the Senate, which took weeks to find the 60 votes needed for passage...

The Senate's Christmas Eve move..would eventually require nearly all Americans to get coverage, help many pay for it and restrict onerous insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing sickness."