[Hot Air] Why is an easy question to answer. Why now is a little more difficult. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both launched efforts to get Congress to revive the "public option" for ObamaCare, claiming that a lack of competition makes it increasingly difficult for consumers to find health insurance. The Hill reports that not all Democrats have much enthusiasm for this argument, however:Everyone to the 'public option' small boats. Women and children first please.
The idea of adding a government-run insurance option to compete with private insurers is making a comeback in the Democratic Party, with President Obama endorsing the idea Monday, two days after presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton emphasized a public option as part of an effort to win over Bernie Sanders and his supporters after a contentious primary.
But among more centrist members of the Senate, where the "public option" was stopped in 2009, there is little enthusiasm for the idea.
So who has cold feet? Some of the usual suspects, such as Heidi Heitkamp and Joe Manchin, two Senators from conservative states. But The Hill’s Peter Sullivan also reports that swing-state Senators Joe Donnelly (IN), Bill Nelson (FL), and Mark Warner (VA) aren’t terribly keen on answering questions about it.