WASHINGTON (AP) - Fears about high costs of the health care overhaul and mistrust of insurers are rekindling interest in letting the government sell health insurance as part of the plan.
The leading congressional proposal as of Wednesday - a Senate Finance bill that relies on private coverage with no new government plan - could price out some 17 million Americans. And the insurance industry may have unwittingly helped the case for public coverage with a report over the weekend asserting the Finance bill would raise premiums for everyone.
Business groups and conservatives remain steadfastly opposed to government insurance - formidable political opposition that shows no sign of weakening. So advocates are getting creative, trying to reformulate the "public option" in a way that can gain the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate.
Instead of an all-or-nothing approach, they're trying to provide choices.
What if each state could decide whether to offer public coverage instead of having it decreed from Washington - as proposed by Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del.?