Finance committee isn't important, it was never going to pass there, because the Finance committee is incredibly conservative. What's important is the budget committee, where the HELP and Finance bills are combined. We absolutely need a public option to come out of there, or bad things are going to happen.
I think the whole problem with the debate is not about "public options" but the legislation that is included with the public option item. The public option already exists, as people who are on welfare or unemployment have access to medical care through their state plans, and no one really objects to that.
The problem occurs in the proposed health care reform packages. As it stands now, the various House versions penalize companies who do not provide health care options for their employees. If the penalty to not provide health care coverage is cheaper than the costs to provide a company plan, the company is obviously going to cut the benefit. This places an unnecessary large number of people onto the government's public option plan. That burden will now cost the government (and the public) more money than if the company kept their medical benefits. There is the rub.
This could all be avoided, however, if Congress would just pass the Bush/Obama cross-state insurance marketplace plan. That would put a large number of people seeking medical coverage into a single pot where the 100+ insurance companies can compete for the new business. This would mean lower costs due to more participants, and therefore more coverage than current exists. If we keep getting our hose in a wad over "public option," then we're going to end up with either incomplete reform, or reform that is more detrimental than beneficial.
