The Durango (Colorado) Herald reports that U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) now supports a federally-administered public option.
Speaking before a group of physicians and nurses at St. Joseph's hospital in Denver, Bennet voiced support for a federally-run insurance program competing directly with for-profit companies.
It wasn't the first time Bennet publicly spoke up for a 'public plan,' which would be run by the government and compete with insurance companies, said his spokesman, Michael Amodeo. At past events, Bennet has said he supports a public plan if it can be paid for, lowers costs, preserves choice for patients and provides health-care access for all Americans, Amodeo said. The government plan would force private companies to compete, Bennet said Monday. 'It's almost as if we have an industry in place whose job it is to stop people from getting the benefits of their coverage rather than to keep them well. That's what bureaucracies do, whether they're private bureaucracies or public bureaucracies,' Bennet said.
Bennet also noted that he wanted the legislation to be deficit-neutral with savings coming from limits on malpractic awards, an independent commission that would set rates on physician compensation, and incentives and loan forgiveness to encourage more physicins to go into primary care.
Well done, Mr. Bennet.
Update: Sen. Bennet's website.
Update 2: Here's the lead for the Durango Herald story
U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet supports creating an optional government-run health insurance plan as part of the health-reform bill the Senate is considering, he said Monday.
At the very least we now have a newspaper article stating that Bennet "supports" rather than "is open to" the Public Option. So what's Bennet do now--demand a retraction on the basis that he wants to continue waffling?