A health care bill will offer a government-run public option and it will be ready for President Barack Obama’s signature by the holidays, Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, told reporters this week.
“It will have a public option,” said Harkin, chairman of the Senate Health Committee. “We will have a bill on the president’s desk by Christmas.”
Despite the Senate Finance Committee’s rejection of the public option, the other four congressional committees working on health care have it in their bills, he said.
“Reports of the public option’s death are greatly exaggerated.”
A recent CBS/New York Times poll found 65 percent favor a public option, Harkin said, and a majority of the Senate feels the same.
“A survey two weeks ago found 73 percent of doctors favor it,” he added.
What’s more, people are again coming back to Obama’s side on this issue, he said. His approval rating dipped below 50 percent in August, Harkin acknowledged, but a poll this week found it was going the other direction.
All of the health care bills also focus on wellness and prevention measures he has championed for a long time, Harkin said. There would be no provisions in his committee’s bill to provide coverage for illegal immigrants, he added.
“Momentum is building to pass a strong bill.”
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