PUBLIC OPTION, R.I.P.?

A vital element of President Barack Obama's original health-care reform proposal may have taken a fatal blow on Sept. 29. Two amendments proposing a publicly funded insurer went down to defeat in the Senate Finance Committee. However, a second Senate committee and the House are both expected to issue bills containing a public plan. And since Americans support such a plan by wide margins, saying it would provide much-needed competition for private insurers, there remains a slim chance some sort of federal insurer will make it to a final bill.

See PAGE 026 "Why Business Fears the Public Option"