Democrats in the U-S Senate appear to be moving toward a health reform bill that would not include a government-run "public option" insurance program. Under the tentative compromise, the federal government would instead negotiate with private insurers to provide non-profit health insurance plans. The compromise would also allow people aged 55 to 64 to "buy into" Medicare. But even if the Senate approves the deal, it would still need to be reconciled with the House-passed version of the bill, which includes a public option. Minnesota DFL Congressman Keith Ellison is an outspoken supporter of the public option, and he joins MPR’s Cathy Wurzer to discuss the subject.
Ellison also discusses his concerns over Afghanistan.
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SPEAKER: In other news this morning, Democrats in the US Senate appear to be moving toward a health reform bill that would not include a government-run so-called public option insurance program. Under the tentative compromise, the federal government would instead negotiate with private insurers to provide nonprofit health insurance plans. The compromise would also allow people aged 55 to 64 to buy into Medicare.
But even if the Senate approves the deal, it would still need to be reconciled with the House passed version of the bill, which includes a public option. Minnesota DFL Congressman Keith Ellison is a supporter of the public option, and he joins us this morning on the phone. Good morning, congressman.
KEITH ELLISON: Good morning. How are you?
SPEAKER: I'm fine. Thanks for joining us.
KEITH ELLISON: Great to be here.
SPEAKER: The president has endorsed, as you know, this Senate compromise, and he calls it a breakthrough. Do you think House Democrats will go along with it?
KEITH ELLISON: Well, I think that there's a lot of concern. I mean, the fact is that the public option is very popular. Americans all over the country are supportive of it-- well over 50%-- in many states around the country, including Minnesota. And so for the Senate to dispense it in favor of a few other things really comes as quite a shock and I think is a real problem.
SPEAKER: This is only the latest in a series of proposed compromises on the public option issue. I'm thinking there was the opt-out plan. There was also the private nonprofit health insurance co-op idea. Why has the public option proven to be such a tough issue?
KEITH ELLISON: Because private insurance companies simply do not want to offer customers real competition access and choice. They want to, on the one hand, have the health care reform care mandate that people get health care insurance so they can get a lot more new customers. But they don't want those customers to have a mechanism to really compete down costs, which is what a public option would provide.
SPEAKER: Now, when I talked with you back in August, you said you weren't personally ready to support a health care bill without the public option. Where do you stand today?
KEITH ELLISON: Oh, same place. Same place. As a matter of fact, I'm telling everybody who will listen that I hope folks will let their voices be heard about how they feel about the public option, because I think at this point, we need to hear from the public.
SPEAKER: Do you think the House and Senate are going to be able to find a compromise on health reform?
KEITH ELLISON: Yes, I do. I'm still very confident. Still very optimistic. And I feel like we have gone far, far farther than we've ever gone for health care reform. And I don't think that the House and the Senate, Democrats, and even some few Republicans are going to abandon the opportunity for real reform now.
SPEAKER: I want to turn our attention next year, congressman, to Afghanistan. I know that you're going to be attending a hearing today in the House, and you'll hear from General Stanley McChrystal and Karl Eikenberry.
KEITH ELLISON: That's right.
SPEAKER: What do you want to know from both of those individuals regarding the new US strategy in Afghanistan?
KEITH ELLISON: First of all, I want to know whether they think it's really going to work. I want to hear exactly how General Stanley McChrystal is going to explain how he's going to-- how this process is going to be successful so that Afghanistan can be a country where women are free to fully participate in civic life of the country. There's some basis of stability, and Afghans can take care of their own business.
And I also want to hear about women's rights. I mean, I am incredibly concerned about this. I've been to Afghanistan within the last three weeks. And while I was there, I was impressed by women parliamentarians who 10 years ago, under the Taliban rule, would just be impossible for them to participate as members of parliament.
I want to talk about Karzai's cooperation, what he's actually doing to inspire confidence in his own countrymen and women and in the international community, who he's asking for a lot of help from. So these are the kind of things I'm concerned about.
SPEAKER: Are you also concerned about the time frame here, where the president is saying the drawdown of troops could begin by July 2011, but some of the top commanders are saying, no, it's going to take a lot longer than that. We might be there for many, many years?
KEITH ELLISON: I like the idea that the president is saying, you got to get in here and do it, or it's not going to be done. I mean, look, we've already been there since 2001. It's the longest war. The fact is we've got to have some success or we've got to conclude that this strategy is not going to be successful. What I'm more skeptical about is if a 30,000 troop increase is actually what is needed or what is required at this point.
SPEAKER: Congressman Ellison, thanks for joining us this morning.
KEITH ELLISON: You bet.