Moderate Democrats Push for Health Care "Trigger"

By: Stephanie Condon
Topics: Health Care

(AP)

As Democrats in the Senate struggle to unify their caucus to advance health care reform legislation, moderates are reviving an idea to scrap a government-run health insurance plan in favor of a plan to "trigger" a government health care plan.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is including in his health care bill a government-run health insurance pan, or "public option," from which states can opt out. But the legislation is not expected to pass without the support of moderates in the Democratic caucus, like Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), who remain opposed to a public option.

To get past that divide, those moderates are reportedly scheming to build support for a proposal to "trigger" a public option in the event that the private insurance market has not met certain goals for reform after a number of years. The "trigger" idea, first put forward by moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine), is adamantly opposed by liberals who argue the trigger would never be pulled.

"There's a possibility that [triggers could make a comeback]," Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) reportedly said. "Right now, we don't know what the actual version of the plan is, because it hasn't come back from CBO...so I think when we get that back, we'll take a look and see what the scoring is, and maybe figure out what chance that plan has to get enough votes. My expectation is that it probably doesn't have enough to get 60 votes to get off the floor if it gets on the floor."

Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) is working with Snowe to revive the trigger idea, the Washington Post reports.

"What we have to move forward thinking about is, as the president has said, people keeping what they have if they like it, having more choices, reforming the private market," Landrieu said. "And if we can achieve that through private-sector reform, that's wonderful. And if not, then there should be a mechanism that basically, I guess, guarantees it, which would be a well-crafted trigger."

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As the Post points out, moderates have other qualms with the health care bill, such as the level of protections in place for small businesses and fees levied on medical-device manufacturers. The divisions within the party have contributed to the delay of the Senate's progress on health care.

If legislators included a public option "trigger" in their final bill, it would be a few years before they seriously considered enacting a public option. After that, it would take at least a few more years to get the program up and running.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are searching for ways to make their health care legislation kick into action more quickly, the Hill newspaper reports.

"Is it a problem? Yes, it's a problem," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) reportedly said about the number of years it would take to see the benefits of the bill. "People expect something will happen, and then nothing happens."

The House is also grappling with this problem and is promoting a list (PDF) of 14 provisions that would take effect immediately after health care reform were passed.

Stephanie Condon
Stephanie Condon is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by toddlarado November 4, 2009 7:33 PM EST: This article is way off base. To call Lieberman a moderate is ridiculous. It's also ridiculous to infer that even with Over 60% support for the Public Option in Many well known polls that the public option is a largely "liberal" bill with liberal support. I would bet that there are quite a few members of the media that are republicans behind closed doors.; Reply to this comment


by chris_sri November 4, 2009 4:37 PM EST: Hmmm, I think most people don't realize how this bill really affects people. Quiz to see how: http://******/1Dm1Dm; Reply to this comment

by us_1776 November 4, 2009 2:41 PM EST

This trigger idea is DOA. It is a way to indefinitely delay implementation of a public option. And the public option is the only "hammer" that can rein in health care costs by providing competition to the greedy private healthcare companies. America's healthcare costs are double those of other western democracies and it's all because of the massive salaries and bonuses that the greedy private healthcare companies pay to their executives. For example, in one year, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare received a $1 BILLION DOLLAR BONUS package. This type of greed is pure insanity and we need a public option, which many experts has said has absolutely zero chance of putting private insurers out of business, in order to force meaningful competition into the market.

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by endurorob_5 November 4, 2009 2:53 PM EST: The public option is step one to single payer. That is the only reason progressives are pushing so hard for it. It is not a magic hammer to rein in the cost of health care. Get off the liberal class wlefare bandwagon. Your hate is blinding you to the realities of the world.


by us_1776 November 4, 2009 3:00 PM EST: endurorob_5, Nowhere in my comment do I propose anything that amounts to welfare. The healthcare reform with a public option actually produces a net gain in revenue and reduces the deficit. The only 'welfare' that has been going on here is the massive amounts of 'corporate welfare' to the ultra-wealthy.


by ajvw November 4, 2009 2:40 PM EST: election results and the panic begins to set in; Reply to this comment