Jim Cooper, Key Conservative Democrat, Backs Public Health Care Option (VIDEO)

A key conservative House Democrat threw his support on Monday to a public health care option without a so-called "trigger" that could prevent it from being implemented.

"I'm for a public option. I like Chuck Schumer's approach. It does not have a trigger in it," said Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.), the vice chairman of the Blue Dog Health Care Task Force.

On Saturday, Cooper told constituents at a town hall on health care almost exactly the same thing. "We should be for it, just like President Obama's letter says," Cooper told a voter in response to a question about the public option under consideration as part of the health care reform.

When a second constituent asked him to clarify if that meant he supported the public option without a trigger, he responded, "My preferred position is to support Senator Chuck Schumer's plan for the public option. That has no trigger in it. I think he has done the best job so far being a senior senator and in leadership and much closer to the White House than I am."

A public option -- without a trigger -- is the top priority for health care reformers. The insurance industry and most Republicans are determined to keep that from happening. The public option would be available to anyone and would compete unsubsidized with private plans.

Cooper's support of a public option is significant, not just because of his elevated position in the Blue Dog coalition, but also because of his background in health care policy. Cooper has been teaching health care law and regulation for 12 years and is an expert in Medicare and Medicaid policy.

Cooper's stand is evolving. He had previously signed a pledge with the reform coalition Health Care for America Now expressing his support for a public option without a trigger.

But on Thursday, the Blue Dogs put out a set of principles that backed a public option only with a trigger and Cooper was featured prominently in the press release.

"The key to successful health care reform is building as broad a coalition of support as possible," said Cooper in Thursday's announcement. "The conditions we're laying out today ensure that Americans who like their current health insurance can keep it; that they will have access to their choice of quality, affordable health care plans; and that any public option exist on a level playing field. And of course, we strongly support President Obama's commitment to keep health care reform deficit-neutral."

Cooper said the the divide among Blue Dogs over the public option has to do both with politics at home and the complexity of the issue. There are, he said, 18 different public option proposals at this point.

"It's just district by district. Some people are more comfortable with health reform as an issue than others. I've been doing it for a long time, so I've been more accustomed to it," he said.

Cooper's support of a public option comes shortly after the three-minute mark of this video:

Jeff Muskus contributed reporting.

Comments

[desmoinesdem]

08:31 PM on 06/09/2009

Blue Dog Leonard Boswell also supports a public option without a trigger. He's one of the Blue Dogs who signed the Health Care for America Now principles earlier this year. I wrote up the background and details at Bleeding Heartland.

[lazercat2008]

07:00 PM on 06/09/2009

I'm in favor of fixing my high premiums, you guys without insurance are just going to have to die.

[Atlas Scruggs]

06:22 PM on 06/09/2009

Hmm, if I remember it correctly, Schumer's plan sucks rather badly. I believe it is designed specifically to cripple the public option with higher than medicare reimbursement rates (I believe the idea is to bring costs DOWN, not UP), and some kind of idiotic subsidy for the private insurers to "keep the playing field level."

A public option designed to self-destruct is not a good thing.

[RealCalGal]

06:06 PM on 06/09/2009

From Cooper's mouth to the Blue Dogs' ears.

Personally, I think profit has no place in healthcare and that if insurance companies want to stay alive, they should spin off non-profit subsidiaries for health care.

It was a crime for California to let Blue Cross become FOR profit.

[audadvnc]

04:15 PM on 06/09/2009

Let's just leave it for the insurance companies to handle it. They've done such a great job so far ...

[MrE]

03:59 PM on 06/09/2009

The most pernicious three words in this debate are "level playing field." It is a Trojan Horse that Republicans use intentionally, moderates repeat without enough thought, and media mimics without any thought. We must fight long, hard and diligently to push back against this ploy. In sports a level playing field encourages a better game. With health care we're not interested in the game, only the outcome; the best, cheapest and most inclusive health care possible.
Simply, there is no place in traditional capitalism and competition for level playing fields. The opposite is true. Providers of goods or services compete; some win and some lose. Private insurance companies have thrived only because they cherry-pick private purchasers by rejecting those with pre-existing illnesses. Then they spend millions denying claims, denying treatment plans and denying access to doctors and choice. Those who don't qualify are left to government programs and tax-supported emergency rooms.
Insurance companies, big pharma and Republicans claim that government cannot provide health care as efficiently (contrary to the evidence of medicare, medicaid and the VA). OK, let them prove it. If private providers can't compete against a public option, playing field be damned, then let them take their place in history with the lamplighters and livery stable owners. No one guaranteed bygone capitalists a level playing field.

[boitexas]

06:32 PM on 06/09/2009

Thanks for the post. You are so right. There is no level playing field and it is a red flag in this conversation for reform.

$500 to $1,000 per month premiums are untenable in a private or public plan. It is absurd to tie profit to peoples health. Further it is immoral to tie profit to peoples health.

We must keep the pressure up on congress for a public option, universal coverage.

[k6007]

03:32 PM on 06/09/2009

Keep the light on these insects, we've got them on the run. Crank it up!

[msaroff]

03:15 PM on 06/09/2009

WTF, this was Hillary's worst nightmare in 1993 over the healthcare plan.

Does Rahm have pictures of him doing an underage goat or something?

[claudiam]

02:59 PM on 06/09/2009

Good for Cooper - more of the "Blue Dogs" need to listen to him. There needs to be a public option. If not, nothing will change. It is time for the Insurance industry to get their comeuppance! They are only interested in making money not taking care of the health of the American people. EVERYBODY it is going to be up to us, to voice our opinion and get the elected leadership to listen to us to make this change. claudiatucsonaz

[bichn]

02:43 PM on 06/09/2009

The Devil is in the Details....so to speak....we need to see the details. Someone recently said Schumer's plan was not so bad but in describing it said that private insurers would get subsidies to help them compete. We need to be vigilant. No taxpayer subsidies for the private insurers. Also, it is unacceptable that this program be self sustaining which could raise premiums to the levels of private insurers. Details please.

[jonbw]

02:10 PM on 06/09/2009

Callforhealthcare.com

Let them know you want a public plan

[jonbw]

02:10 PM on 06/09/2009

While not my favorite I'm more than willing to accept the Schumer plan. It meets my three biggest demands. It is national, it is open to all, and it frees people from private insurance.

Keep calling your repersentatives and let them know that if there is no public plan there is no deal.