MoveOn watching Hagans health | newsobserver.com projects

MoveOn.org, the liberal advocacy group, is threatening to run ads against North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan if she does not support President Barack Obama’s health care plan.Justin Ruben, executive director of MoveOn.org said the group was prepared to “run ads in North Carolina and DC asking that she advocate for the public option and support the president in truly solving the nation’s health care crisis,” Rob Christensen reports

Kay Hagan: Dont judge me yet | newsobserver.com projects

Sen. Kay Hagan this morning told critics to “stay tuned” to the health care debate in Washington.

Hagan, a Democrat, talked to reporters after a visit to Charlotte’s Shelter Health Services, a free clinic that provides medical services to residents of an adjacent shelter for homless women and children. Some in her own party have criticized her for appearing to take a so-called “public option” in health care reform off the table, the Charlotte Observer’s Jim Morrill reports.

Many, including Democratic leaders such as Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada and Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, have put forward what’s known as a “public option” provider, a federally run insurer. Hagan told the Greensboro News & Record this week that a federally run insurance program could cause companies to drop their private insurance plans and destabilize the insurance market.

“We haven’t taken a ‘public option’ off the table,” she told reporters today. She said it depends on what that means. A member of a key Senate health committee, she said she’s working with colleagues to find a way to expand coverage, ensure quality of care and be fiscally accountable.

Critics, she said, “need to stay tuned.” “People are so centered on the word ‘public’,” she said. “And it really depends on what’s (involved) in that.”

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/kay_hagan_dont_judge_me_yet

N.C. Sen. Hagan not ready to back Obama’s health care plan – Politics Wire – News & Observer

WASHINGTON — Although U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan told community activists at a health care rally Thursday that she agrees with the need to reform health care, she isn’t ready to support President Barack Obama’s call for a public health care option.

Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat, has come under fire recently after word got out on Capitol Hill that she disagreed with Obama’s plan for a public option. Such an option would allow residents to join a government plan if they liked, and would be open to all.

Hagan sits on the Senate health committee that is helping write the bill, and her vote could be necessary to get the measure out of committee.

via N.C. Sen. Hagan not ready to back Obama’s health care plan – Politics Wire – News & Observer.

There is a God…Specter Supports Public Option

It seems that Senator Specter has had a change of heart. Speaking with a group of union activists, Specter announced that he supported a public option for the healthcare bill. According to Morning Call, this position shift is most likely due to a combination of Specter’s upcoming primary battle with US Rep. Joe Sestak and his 17-year low favorability ratings.

http://blogs.mcall.com/penn_ave/2009/06/specter-backs-public-option-on-health-care.html

Kerry Pushes For Public Option Trigger In Closed-Door Meeting

n a closed-door meeting of Senate Finance Committee Democratic members and their staff Wednesday evening, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) suggested that the committee bill include a ten-year delay between passage of health care reform and the implementation of a public option that Americans could buy into, according to two Democratic aides.

Under the plan floated by Kerry, a public health care option would only be triggered by private insurance companies failing to meet certain criteria after ten years. Known as the “trigger” in legislative lingo, the idea is vociferously opposed by health care advocates who consider it the death of reform.

via Kerry Pushes For Public Option Trigger In Closed-Door Meeting.

Baucus Trims Health Care Bill Down To $1 Trillion

Senator Max Baucus, one of the key players in crafting health care reform, broke some big news on Thursday, when he announced that the Senate Finance Committee he chairs could get a bill done for under $1 trillion.

“We are much closer on the scores for a health care reform package than were at this point last week,” he said, according to remarks passed along by his staff. “We have options the Congressional Budget Office tells us would cost under $1 trillion and be fully paid for. Based on these developments, I’m even more confident in our ability to move forward. And as I’ve said before, we will not put out a mark until we are sure we have it right. I’ll continue to work with Senator [Chuck] Grassley and members on both sides of aisle to turn these options into a package that can pass the Senate and become law this year.”

via Baucus Trims Health Care Bill Down To $1 Trillion.

Obama up in N.C., policies not

While North Carolina voters generally like President Barack Obama, there is deep skepticism about his health care and energy proposals, according to a new state-wide poll.

The survey found that 44 percent of North Carolina voters had a favorable opinion of Obama’s health care proposals while 50 percent had an unfavorable opinion, with 5 percent having no opinion, Rob Christensen reports.

There was similar skepticism about Obama’s energy proposals. The survey found that 44 percent had a favorable opinion, while 45 percent had an unfavorable opinion, with 11 percent undecided.

Obama remains more popular than some his policies. The survey found that 50 percent had a favorable view of the president’s job performance compared with 37 percent who had an unfavorable view.

That is according to the first in a series of state-wide surveys of Southern states conducted for the Southern Political Report, a long-time political newsletter.

The poll of 894 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted June 22 by Majority Opinion Research in Atlanta, It had a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.

via Obama up in N.C., policies not | newsobserver.com projects.

Dems: Obama Open To Dropping Public Option

According to a report in Bloomberg, President Obama is open to compromising on health care reform by eliminating the public option from his plan.

via Dems: Obama Open To Dropping Public Option.

Hagan says she wants a health bill that can pass

RALEIGH — Asked about her take on health care reform Monday, U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan started with the pragmatic realities.

“First of all, the president would like to have a bill by October,” Hagan said on her way to the airport. To get that bill, no one party to the health care debate can get everything it wants. “What I’m working on is getting a bill that can get to our president.”

via Hagan says she wants a health bill that can pass : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad’s most trusted source for local news and analysis.

“Ed Show” Panel Discusses How Democrats Are Blocking Democrats On Health Care Reform (VIDEO)

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker, A.B. Stoddard ofThe Hill, and Christina Ballantani of The Washington Times, appeared as panelists on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” tonight. One of the issues they addressed was the difficulty in passing health care reform, particularly one that includes a public option.

“Ed Show” Panel Discusses How Democrats Are Blocking Democrats On Health Care Reform (VIDEO).

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