Kay Hagan, Key Senate Democrat: "I Support" Public Plan

One of the Democratic senators who was on the fence when it came to backing a public option for health insurance coverage is coming out in support of the measure.

On Thursday, Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) offered her support for the health care overhaul proposal put forth by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, of which she is a member. In the process, she issued a statement that removed any doubt about where she stands on a publicly run insurance option.

"My colleagues and I on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have been working on a plan to reform the health care system in this country," Hagan's statement read. "We have crafted a plan that will stabilize health care costs and includes a Community Health Insurance Option, which I support. It is a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage. Health care providers will not be required to participate, payment rates will be set in a competitive fashion, and the community health insurance option will compete on a level playing field with private health insurance plans in the gateway."

The public plan portion of the proposal, known as the Community Health Insurance Option, would be overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, but follow the rules set forth by the private market. At the same time, it would lower the costs of health care by pooling the purchasing powers of its participants and it would drastically lower the administrative costs customary to private providers. In short, one source on the committee said, it is the robust proposal that progressive wanted. And now Hagan, as her office confirmed to the Huffington Post, supports it.

For days, even weeks, the North Carolina Democrat had been pinpointed as a possible roadblock towards getting a strong public option out of the HELP committee. Progressive groups were running advertisements in her state to compel her to support the provision. Local pressure on the Senator was intense as well as it was widely believed that she was trying to water down the public option during the committee's drafting process.

In the end, Democrats say, Hagan was much more solid on the idea than media reports were letting on.

"The Left is wrong about Sen. Hagan on this," said a Senior Democratic staffer. "For others to attack her as standing in the way of progress on public choice just isn't right. She worked right up to the wire with other Democrats on the Committee. In the end, it will be plan they created together that will pass the Senate, guarantee access to affordable coverage for those who don't have it and preserve the options of those who do."

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Comments

[Belisarius]

Where is the public option available to every American?

[ProAmericanLobbyist]

Health Care is going to show who is ProAmerican and who is Pro Corporation.
We the people are the Boss. Clean out the Corporate lackeys in Congress.

This will take eternal vigilance. Trust but Verify.

[polybius]

oh proAmerican, you are so cute. The people are the boss?? ahaha.

No. The corporations run things. They have the corporate media to saturate the "people's" airwaves with complete crap, the corporate run regulatory bodies set up by the corporate run Congress.

I like your dream of a country where the people run things -- but it is just a dream. We live in a country run by the Corporations.

[elmoor]

She is sadly mistaken if she thinks this 'community health plan' is a viable public option. 'Stop gap for those without access to health insurance'???

That is NOT a viable public option. That is a 'poor' peoples plan, destined to be a failure for the people.

Don't let this Senator get ANY credit for supporting a true public option that will hold insurance companies accountable. She is still an obstructionist in my view.

[CanadianBeef]

Have hope! As "elfish" discovered (see lower on thread) the conditions suggested by Hagen do not seem to be actually in the bill. She makes it sound like it's only a parachute for the uninsured, but there does not actually seem to be in the real bill anything to stop someone actually choosing the public option. Is this real, or a mirage. Keep digging, "elfish!"

[sueinmn]

So the poor will get health care and their will be no reform for the rest of us. We will continue to pay high rates for little to no real care. Yje option will not be there for the rest of us to opt out of our present care package (that is full of expense and pre esisting refusals). We will continue to be ra.ped over the coals paying high costs with little in return. You will have to prove your worthiness of the public option only after you become so poor that you cannot afford anythong other. The poor win and the rest of us get the shaft. This is not the package we hoped to get! Watered down to help few. Just as the CC reform bill ended up a worthless Bill. No caps and they have until next year to implement a few protections. NOT GOOD ENOUGH in this true time of economic crisis.

[CanadianBeef]

TNANK YOU, sueinmn! You have actually taken the time to read the fine print! "It is a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage," Hagen says. That's what she supports, a dumping ground for the poor and chronically ill, while the rest of the population suffers on with the existing system. That is not the Kennedy plan, and it is not an "option" if you CAN'T CHOOSE IT, Kay!

[dogdiva]

All these Congress people coming up with alternatives of their own have only one reason. So they can deminish and pick at a "public option" until it isn't a threat. But they can go home and say "I tried to vote for health care reform!!"

I'm tired of hearing every politician say "compete with the insurance companies" I want someone to say we are doing a public option that the insurance companies have to compete with.

[jwredd]

"I want someone to say we are doing a public option that the insurance companies have to compete with."

That's a great way to phrase it since we're talking about lowering the costs that so far have been completely determined by these companies. You're absolutely right.

[elfish]

I just did a re-read of the proposed law. The only place I can find income mentioned as an eligibility requirement is in the section on receiving a subsidy. Every where else it says everyone is eligible for every program. Can someone point to a section where it say only poor people are eligible for the Public Option??

[CanadianBeef]

Only Kay Hagen seems to think that it's restricted to people rejected by private insurers or too poor to get afford insurance. I guess what she supports is not what the bill actually is, or else she does support the bill as written, but has not the mental skills to express her support.

[SoClearToMe]

I just read the HuffPo article "The Great American Bubble Machine" and wonder, How will/is Goldman Sach going to be involved in the Health Care Reform? How will they create a health care bubble to make exorbitant profits and then profits again when that bubble bursts?

[CanadianBeef]

"It is a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage."
Her words, not mine.
So this is not a true public option, one an average person is allowed to choose. As in the definition of "option" is something you can choose, Which this isn't. You have to be so poor you're of no use to insurance companies. It is just an extension of Medicaid
So the too-poor-t­o-get-insu­rance will get the public option. That IS great news. Meanwhile, however, the broken system that scr*ws everyone else will be left intact. I score this a victory for the health insurers.

[SoClearToMe]

I score this a victory for the health insurers too.

[elfish]

I've read through the law several times. Section 3106 Establishes the Community Health Insurance Option. There's nothing in that section that limits it to poor people. Where is everybody getting this idea?

[CanadianBeef]

"It is a backstop option for people without access to affordable coverage," are Hagen's words. But as you say, as I'm reading the bill, Iam not seeing where that restriction actually exists. I have not come across any qualifying conditions yet. Anyone else?

[elmoor]

'to fill a gap' doesn't sound like a competitive public health insurance option that competes with private insurance. What 'gap'? Makes too little for Medicaid but not enough for private insurance. NOT A TRUE PUBLIC OPTION!

[Insiteful]

I'm a constituent of Kay Hagen's, and I'm proud to say I called her office, and expressed the fact that I would work aggressively against her reelection should she stall on supporting the Public option.

We all need to be applying pressure, all the time, to counter the influence of the corporate robber-barons who are working hard to deny the American people their "due". I have no doubt that Hagen is a DINO - her "fence sitting" on this issue speaks volumes.

[CanadianBeef]

Good work, but beware: you are not free to choose the "public option" she is supporting. It's not an option for you, unless you are so poor or so sick that private insurers don't want you anyway. It will be expensive compared to single-payer, and that gives Republicans, always and only concerned about money, all the ammunition they need to oppose it.

[socalgal38]

Not only to oppose it but to make sure it fails. A plan to fail will put the demos out the door. This health care reform has to be done right without the insurance company involvement whatsoever. They are the problem they are not the solution. Anyone that is campagning for a public option where as it competes with the insurance company is living in denial. We need a plan that makes the insurance company compete with the people for their survival. Anyone that thinks that single payer will put the insurance companies out of business are not allowing the insurance company to reform to the needs of their customers.

[James Croteau]

> The public plan portion of the proposal, known as the Community Health Insurance Option

Ya, right "A Community Health Insurance Option" . That sounds like an option we can pass on.

H.R. 676

[James Croteau]

http://www.hr676.org/

[CanadianBeef]

A good link to an actual, real live single-payer bill! Thank you.

[Antifascist-08]

Community Health Insurance Option = wtf ?

Health care providers will not be required to participate, payment rates will be set in a competitive fashion, and the community health insurance option will compete on a level playing field with private health insurance plans in the gateway." = wtf?

"Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee have been working on a plan to reform the health care system in this country." = wtf?

Well I guess they are making some progress, but i don't think this is the bill we want. Will she support something stronger?

[113]

any democrats who do not vote for a plan with a strong public option should be voted out of office next election cycle and replaced with liberal democrats who will do the right thing.

[ndnd]

many democrats who don't support it come from red states. Demanding they be replaced with liberal democrats is akin to demanding they turn into frogs - it's not going to happen. Witholding support from senators nelson and landrieu (for example) would only bring about the election of another johanns and vitter.
As a liberal who would consider any healthcare reform that lacks a strong public option to be outrageous, I consider this to be a very unfortunate reality, but a reality nonetheless.

[instarx]

As a constituent of Hagan I can say that as big a disapointment her position on health care is turning out to be, she is still light years better than the Senator we DID kick out of office - Elizabeth Dole.

It is disheartening that she has so easily adapted to Senatorial Press Releases that have very little to do with the truth and everything to do with her political ambitions. I have to wonder who her advisors are, and if it isn't they who are running this senator. The funny thing is that Hagan won her seat in a landslide, so she really doesn't have to completely surrender to conservatives in this state.

North Carolina progressives elected you Kay - and I suggest you start trying to please US or we will un-elect you next time. Progresives in this state are educated and smart, and we can recognize political bull when we see it.

I too contacted Hagan's office and expressed my displeasure at her stance on health care. I don't believe for a second she was always in favor of a public plan. The reason she wasn't is what I have trouble with - she clearly deemed it politically damaging and voted that way. Pathetic - and after only five months in office.

[Eriq]

Way to go, Kay! That's why I and other N.C. citizens voted for you!

[elmoor]

Read closer... she does not support a real Public Plan. She is supporting a 'poor persons' plan by calling it a 'community health plan'. Just another Medicaid, guaranteed to do NOTHING to compete with private insurance- which is what will bring costs down.

Don't fall for her slight of hand- it's a scam she's trying to pull on you.

[peeler]

You got that right!

[instarx]

I voted for Hagen (after all, the alternative was Elizabeth Dole), and I'm not proud of her. This press release is pure pandering. We Progressives elected you Kay, and you better stop trying to pander to the right and stand up for what the people who elected you believe.

[PhilipTaylor]

How do the House and Senate defend themselves from these facts:

1. US ranks in quality on PAR with P00R Cuba (see list below) and below Chile and Costa Rica!

2. US pays 134% above the average of the ranked countries, and 50% more than second place Switzerland! Insurance and Healthcare Provider Theft!

World Health Organization has US at 37th below Chile and Costa Rica AND ON PAR WITH CUBA!

[zerotimes10]

That's one. It struck me odd as I have never seen her face. Is there a Web site that tracks and shows the faces of the Blue Dog Dems? I want to know who they are and what they're doing so if they get out of line I can network with their state to have them defeated. I want a Liberal Senate. I want all the Conservatives to be defeated. The Conservatives have no good ideas. If they did, I wouldn't be so adamant but for the good of our precious Democracy, they must be defeated in the next election cycle.

[helonias]

Here's why

AETNA Headquarters: Hartford, Connecticut 2007 Profits: $1.831 billion 2007 CEO Total Compensation: Ronald A. Williams, $23,045,834 Aetna has a long history in the business of insurance. Founded to sell life insurance in 1850, it became the first insurance company owned by stockholders to go into the health coverage business. Infamous For: “Underwriting Discipline” In 2007, Aetna applauded itself for its low “medical loss ratio”--the percentage of revenue it “loses” to paying for health care. (Sensitive to public relations, the industry now calls this a “medical benefit ratio.”) “Our commercial medical benefit ratio of 79.2% for the fourth quarter and 79.5% for the full year reflected solid underwriting discipline and our focused efforts in the area of medical management,” CEO Ronald Williams told investors in February, 2008. Translation: We are proud to spend less than 80 percent of premiums on health care by avoiding unhealthy enrollees and keeping a lid on services.

[XCITIZEN]

WASHINGTON STATE RESIDENTS - CALL MARIA CANTWELL'S OFFICE.

It's hypocrisy for Cantwell to sit on the fence and fake to the left and to the right when so many people are suffering. Maria Cantwell does not support a single payer health care system, and she has remained unacceptably vague on supporting a public option.

She is in the pockets of Big Insurance.

CALL HER, Washington State residents and tell her she needs to show some courage and guts and support single payer and the wishes of the American people!

MARIA CANTWELL: Toll Free Phone: [phone]

[PhilipTaylor]

Isn't it sad we have a Democracy for one day (if the votes are counted accurately) every two, four or six years?

The rest of the time we have a Corporate Run Oligarchy that has bought our Congress and our Presidents for years.

What can Main Street do when a Kay Hagan is corrupt in her first year of her first term?

Demonstrate is our only TOOL! But what will they do if we do?

[Pleneras]

Get scared and vote according to what their voters tell them or else bye bye Kate and everyone else. Problem is politicians are use to people ranting after they vote no. Protesting before they vote is the smart thing to do.

[peeler]

You don't know what you're talking about. Kay Hagan is a great Democrat and won't be voted out of office.

[instarx]

Really? The only reason she was elected was that Elizabeth Dole, her opponent, was such a lousy candidate. It was over when North Carolinians found out Dole had only spent 10 days in NC over the past six years.

No, Hagan has an excellent chance of being a one-term Senator. If she keeps pandering to the right wing she will lose her support among NC Democrats and that will be all she wrote.