Leading Blue Dog wants to open up Medicare to uninsured [View All]

[babylonsister]

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Leading Blue Dog wants to open up Medicare to uninsured
By Mike Soraghan - 10/15/09 02:08 PM ET


Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross, who made headlines by rejecting a compromise he'd negotiated on a public health insurance option, has suggested to Democratic leaders that the government-run Medicare program be opened to those without insurance.

Ross (D-Ark.) has made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday.

"I — speaking only on behalf of myself — suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice to compete alongside private insurers for those Americans eligible to enter the national health insurance exchange, but at a reimbursement rate much greater than current Medicare rates," Ross said in a statement to The Hill.

The position is surprising because centrist Democrats such as Ross, chairman of the Blue Dogs' healthcare task force, have resisted a public insurance option with rates tied to Medicare. Centrist Democrats who can support a public plan generally prefer that the officials who run it negotiate rates with each provider.

That has emerged as the highest-profile debate within the House Democratic Caucus right now on healthcare. Liberals support a public option with reimbursement set at "Medicare plus 5 percent." Centrists either oppose the public option or support "negotiated rates."

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http://thehill.com/homenews/house/63281-leading-blue-dog-suggests-opening-medicare-to-all