PUBLIC OPTION

The Public Option on Health Care Reform



Abstract

In this study we try to explore the concept of Public Option in a holistic context. The main focus of the research is on Public Option and its relation with Health Care Reform. The research also analyzes many aspects of Public Option and tries to gauge its effect on Health Care Reform.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

Description and Analysis7

Study Data and Methods10

Data Source10

Coding the Frames in Questions10

Measures10

Analysis11

Limitations11

Study Results12

The Public Option12

Discussion15

Findings15

Implications17

Conclusion18

References20

Appendix22

The Public Option on Health Care Reform

Introduction

Why has the debate on The Public Option turned into a political free for all and why do some lawmakers support it and some do not?

Senator (D) Max Baucus seems to think that a healthcare reform bill with the so called “public option” wont pass a full vote so therefore he, along with other senators, voted down the healthcare reform bill in a finance committee vote on Tuesday, September 29, 2009. He says, “My job is to put together a bill that will become law.” (Metro NY) His position is in direct opposition to that of Sen Jay Rockefeller (D) W.V., who was in support of the same bill that was voted down in the committee vote that I referred to earlier. This debate over difference of opinion on the public option has caused rifts among key democratic lawmakers who are needed to get some form of healthcare reform passed that the president can sign. That is certainly easier said than done, at this point. There is a rift between the major players in the democratically controlled Senate,who along with their counterparts in the House, will ultimately have to decide if any form of healthcare legislation will become law.

Senator Rockefeller's postion, “…Why would we not do this people come second and profits come first if we are against this.”(Metro NY) The public option that is, he is framing the debate on healthcare reform around a moral issue. If we are against this he says, it like you being anti-American or something. Its like “guns or butter,” in a sense, because what he is essentially saying is that we are going to have to make hard choices as to which road Congress and the American public is going to take with this.

Senator Chuck Schumer, a democrat from New York, who has teamed up with Rockefeller, has introduced two amendments to the bills that were voted down in the senate subcommittee vote on Tuesday. He said, “a public plan would start out with a 20% savings because it would not need profits or marketing expenses. Why would we want to deprive our constituents of a plan that has 20% lower costs. “(McAUliff, 2009) Again, I see that the issue is being framed as a moral issue. The thought of … “depriving our constituents”… is definitely “laying it on thick” in hope of garnering support for the public option. The fight for the public option is definitely on.

On the other side of the spectrum, republicans fear that the healthcare bill ...