Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee face off Tuesday over whether an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system should include an optional government-run health insurance plan.
The panel, which is debating changes to Chairman Max Baucus’s healthcare reform bill, is dealing with amendments about the public option Tuesday.
The public insurance option has become a hot button issue. Many Democrats, including President Barack Obama, say it is needed to make sure there is enough competition to drive down prices.
Most Republicans strongly oppose a government-run plan, fearing it will have an unfair competitive advantage that will drive private insurers out of the marketplace.
Baucus, seeking to craft a bill that could win bipartisan support, left the public option out of his healthcare bill. Instead, he proposed creating private healthcare cooperatives as an means of ensuring competition with insurance companies.
