**A key US Senate committee has rejected a proposal to create a government-run insurance scheme as part of a radical overhaul of the healthcare system.**Some Democrats sided with the Republican minority in the Senate Finance Committee to defeat the plan.
This highlights the fierce battles taking place as various versions of the healthcare bill go through Congress.
President Barack Obama has made healthcare reform a central plank of his domestic agenda.
The US does not have a universal system of healthcare coverage; instead it is up to individuals to obtain health insurance.
Most that are insured get coverage through their employers, while others sign up for private insurance schemes. One of the biggest problems are the dramatically rising costs.
HEALTHCARE IN THE US
- 46 million uninsured, 25 million under-insured
- Healthcare costs represent 16% of GDP, almost twice OECD average
- Reform plans would require all Americans to get insurance
- Some propose public option to compete with private insurers
Mr Obama has said that a government-run option would help the millions of people in the US who currently do not have health insurance to get cover and that a public option would “help keep insurance companies honest”.
But Republicans and some Democrats oppose the idea as excessive government intrusion into the healthcare system.
Several Democrats sided with the Republican minority to defeat public option proposals by 15 to 8 and 13 to 10 as members of the Senate Finance Committee continued work on finalising their bill.
‘Bureaucrats’
Sen Max Baucus, the committee’s Democratic chairman, has said he supports the principle of a public option but that he believes it would not get the votes it needed to advance in the full Senate.
“I want a bill that can become law,” he said.
Supporters of the government-run scheme said they would continue to push for it.
“The more the American people hear about the public option, the more they like it,” said Democratic Sen Charles Schumer.
But Sen Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the committee, said the end result would be a completely government-run insurance scheme.
“A government-run plan will ultimately drive private insurers out of business,” Sen Grassley said. “If you support government bureaucrats, not doctors, making decisions you should support this amendment.”
The proposed Senate Finance Committee legislation is the only one among several healthcare reform bills that does not include a public insurance scheme.
Instead, it proposes not-for-profit insurance co-operatives which would compete with private insurers to cover people who do not have employer-sponsored coverage.
Various drafts
Passing a healthcare reform bill is President Obama’s top priority for 2009, but so far lawmakers have been unable to agree on a bill.
Although Mr Obama backs a public option, his administration has indicated it is not worth insisting on if it leads to ultimate failure of overhaul reform.
If the Finance Committee does eventually agree on a bill, the full Senate will attempt to come up with proposed legislation, based on the versions produced by the Finance Committee and the Health Committee.
Simultaneously, the House of Representatives is attempting to come up with its own draft of a bill.
Once both chambers have approved bills, a conference committee, made up of lawmakers from both houses, will convene to reconcile the two versions.
If both chambers then vote in favour of the reconciled version, it will be sent to President Obama for his approval, and become law.