The Obama administration indicated yesterday it is ready to abandon the idea of government-run health insurance as part of its ambitious health-care reform plan.
Facing growing opposition from Republicans and conservative Democrats, White House officials left open the possibility of a compromise that would include health-insurance cooperatives.
Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said that the government alternative to private health insurance is “not the essential element” of Obama’s health-care overhaul.
She added that the White House would be open to co-ops, a sign Democrats want a compromise so they can declare a victory on the issue.
“I think there will be a competitor to private insurers. That’s really the essential part, you don’t turn over the whole new marketplace to private insurance companies and trust them to do the right thing,” Sebelius said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs refused to say a public option was a make-or-break choice for the administration.
“What I am saying is, the bottom line for this for the president is, what we have to have is choice and competition in the insurance market,” Gibbs said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), chairman of the Senate’s budget committee, pressed for co-ops.
“It’s not government-run and government-controlled,” he said. “It’s membership-run and membership-controlled. But it does provide a nonprofit competitor for the for-profit insurance companies, and that’s why it has appeal on both sides,” Conrad said on “Fox News Sunday.”
As proposed by Conrad, the co-ops would get federal startup money but then operate independently of the government.
They would have to maintain the same financial reserves as private companies to handle unexpectedly high claims.
The compromise is likely to enrage liberal Democrats but could give Obama a win on a top domestic priority.
Also on “Fox News Sunday,” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said, “I don’t know if it will do everything people want, but we ought to look at it. I think it’s a far cry from the original proposals.” With AP