Keep Him Honest: Bingaman Again Stresses His Support for Public Health Care Option

Sen. Bingaman talks about reform bill this past Tuesday

Sen. Bingaman is a key player in the health care reform process because he sits on the two major committees that are drafting legislation -- the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, chaired by Sen. Ted Kennedy, and the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Max Baucus. The HELP Committee is considered our best chance for a bill that's doesn't entirely cave to corporate interests.

In a post on Wednesday on the reform legislation, I discussed rumored back-room deals being pushed by the health care "industry" and questioned whether Senator Jeff Bingaman will stand tall for a robust, nationwide public health care option. I also wasn't thrilled about Sen. Bingaman touting in an Albuquerque Journal article that a "consensus" had been reached among "health care experts and business leaders" that would provide a framework for health care reform -- suggesting that consumers and more progressive advocates weren't in the picture.

In response, Bingaman's State Director Terry Brunner assured me in an email that they've had "dozens of meetings on this issue not only with private interests, AMA, nurses etc., but with organized labor, Heath Care Action Now, Health Action New Mexico, seniors groups and many, many others." He explained that, "unlike prior years, there is actually some consensus here across the spectrum," and urged me to share the video above to provide a better window into the Senator's views on reform than the Albuquerque Journal article I discussed in the post.

Direct from Senator Bingaman
Late yesterday, the Senator's Washington office provided a quote to me from Sen. Bingaman himself on the public option.

“As a member of the Finance and HELP committees, I am working hard to develop legislation that reins in health care costs, while providing affordable and meaningful care. To achieve this goal, I believe it is important to include a public plan -- one that is established and overseen by the federal government and made available to all Americans,” U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman said [emphasis mine].

That's still more than a little murky on how such a public plan would be structured, but it definitely represents a step in the right direction.

National Blogs Pressing Bingaman
According to a story by Jane Hamsher posted late Wednesday on the national blog Firedoglake, Bingaman's press secretary, Jude McCartin, also told her the Senator is supportive of a strong public option. In addition, McCartin said Bingaman supports the public option being included in the HELP bill itself, not merely as an amendment that would be easier to strip from the bill:

Senator Bingaman absolutely supports a strong public option," she says.

"Does he support one that is available everywhere from day one?" I asked.

"Yes," she said.

Roger Hickey of the HCAN steering committee indicated that there was concern that if the public plan came out as an amendment it could lead to a floor fight, and said that it was important that any public plan be included in the core of the bill. McCartin indicated that Senator Bingaman was in favor of that, too.

"It would be great if we could get it in the bill before it leaves the committee," she said.

As I reported last month, Sen. Bingaman did sign on to a "sense of the Senate" resolution sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown demanding that any health care reform bill include a public insurance option. So why am I and many others wary about the strength of Bingaman's support for a robust public option and his willingness to fight for one to be included in the main HELP Committee bill?

For one thing, Hamsher has a confirmed source claiming Senator Bingaman and Senator Kay Hagen are the main obstacles to the inclusion of an effective public option in the bill being drafted in the HELP Committee. It's hard to tell what's going on behind the scenes because no language for a public option has yet to be revealed by the committee. However, Hamsher's source reports,

"There is a working draft of language being written right now. It's the concept of a robust public option they're objecting to." Numerous Senate staffers have now confirmed that this is their understanding of what has been happening on the committee, and that nobody from the White House is whipping the bill.

And as mcjoan at Daily Kos says,

We're still hearing conflicting things, but there is a very real danger that the HELP committee is considering going ahead without putting a public option in the bill, making it necessary to add the public option in via amendment as opposed to protecting it from being stripped. This would stack the deck against the public option and make it much more likely we couldn't get the votes in committee to add it at all, or would have to weaken the public option to get it passed. Bottom line, going forward without a public option in the bill is like starting the game down by 10 points.

... we need the public option to be embedded in the bill, to do otherwise would be like going into the ring against George Foreman with one arm tied behind your back.

Bottom line? Although Sen. Bingaman is consistently issuing statements that he is on board with a robust and national public option in the core HELP bill, behind the scenes reports continue to question whether that is true or not. We need to keep the pressure on.

Keep On Keepin' On
You're urged to keep pushing Sen. Jeff Bingaman and other key Dem Senators to stand up to the massive health insurance and for-profit lobbies and do the right thing with the HELP Committee bill:

Chris Dodd (CT), point man on the HELP Committee: (202) 224-2823
Jeff Bingaman (NM): (202) 224-5521
Tom Harkin (IA): (202) 224-3254
Barbara A. Mikulski (MD): (202) 224-4654
Patty Murray (WA: (202) 224-2621
Jack Reed (RI): (202) 224-4642
Bernard Sanders (I) (VT): (202) 224-5141
Sherrod Brown (OH): (202) 224-2315
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (PA): (202) 224-6324
Kay Hagan (NC): (202) 224-6342
Jeff Merkley (OR): (202) 224-3753
White House at (202) 456-1414.

You can also e-mail the committee: help_comments@help.senate.gov.