Washington » Senate Republicans, including Utah's Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, are bucking against a proposal to have a government insurance plan compete with the private sector. And the dust-up may turn the once amicable health care debate into a partisan war.
Hatch and eight other Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee said in a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday that the "public option" proposal would result in "a federal government takeover of our healthcare system."
"If we go to a government plan, the government will be setting prices," Hatch said on Fox News. "They will be telling people what they can do."
Democrats have discussed a public option plan for months, but it gained a new prominence when Obama said he "strongly" believes it will help consumers in an open letter to Congress on June 2.
"This will give them a better range of choices, make the health care market more competitive, and keep insurance companies honest," Obama said.
Senate Democrats and Obama administration officials see the public option as a primary lever to spur the health care system to reduce costs and maintain fair coverage. But Republicans see it as a slippery slope to a government controlled system and they are turning to their standard criticisms honed over decades of debates.
"When government gets in, it sounds good, it sounds like a solution, but you can always count on all the inefficiencies of government, you can always count on the bureaucrats eating us alive," said Hatch, who is a senior member on the Senate finance and health committees.
These two committees have worked for months with the goal of releasing a bipartisan plan by the end of June. Republicans and Democrats have found some common ground around the idea of a government organized insurance exchange where consumers would shop for private health care plans that could not exclude people because of preexisting medical conditions. People could keep their plans when they change jobs and it would reward people for healthy lifestyles and preventive care.
But Republicans say the public option could unravel the bipartisan effort, though Hatch was unsure that they could stop the Democrats.
"I would be glad to help them, but not with a public plan," he said.
Hatch got every Republican on the Finance Committee to sign on to his letter, except for one. Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe is trying to find a compromise, where a government plan would be available to those who couldn't afford normal health insurance.
"If individuals are not offered affordable choices, the use of a fallback public plan as a last resort plays a critical role," Snowe said.
But Republicans like Utah's Bennett believe any kind of public plan will ultimately undercut the private market because government could use taxpayer money to set the premiums artificially low.
"I am convinced if that happens, we end up with a situation where there is only one option that survives," Bennett said on the Senate floor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
