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Senators Baucus, Kennedy offer different visions for Health Care Reform

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have adopted different views on health care reform. 

The chairs of each committee, Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Max Baucus (D-MT), respectively, are spearheading the reform, and it is clear how their committees have shaped their priorities. 

Kennedy has advocated a separate government entity, one that is closely modeled off Medicare, while Baucus believes this public plan should be used as a last resort if insurance companies are unable to provide affordable coverage within the next few years. 

“Private insurers have proved to be inadequate in their coverage.  More often than not, someone who is in desperate need of care will be turned away because of pre-existing conditions,” commented Edward F. Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans.  Hospital executives and doctors appreciate that private insurers can offer them substantially more money than a public insurance option. 

On Wednesday, Baucus met with single-payer activists, some of whom were arrested last month for disrupting Finance Committee health care hearings. 

President Obama has expressed his support for a public insurance option, working alongside private industries, as a way to expand coverage to all Americans.