The debate over healthcare reform heated up this weekend when a top U.S. health official called into question the government-run health insurance option favored by President Barack Obama.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Sunday a public option was “not the essential element” of any overhaul, and that non-profit cooperatives being considered by a Senate panel could also fulfill the White House goal of creating more competition on insurance.
Democratic dissenters of this view come out in full force.
“You can’t have reform without a public option,” Howard Dean, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and a vocal supporter of an overhaul, said on CBS’s “Early Show.”
“I don’t think it can pass without the public option,” Dean said. “There are too many people who understand, including the president himself, the public option is absolutely linked to reform.”
Democratic Representative Anthony Weiner of New York, who backs a public option, said in a statement “leaving private insurance companies the job of controlling the costs of healthcare is like making a pyromaniac the fire chief.”
Reuters.com asked a panel of experts to weigh in on the debate. Here are their responses:
(Updated at 8:15 pm ET)
Ted A. Okon is the executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance, a professional organization representing community oncologists. The views expressed are his own.
