Jacob Hacker

As closed-door discussions continue in the Senate, the resilient bad idea of triggering the public plan is once again on the table. Advocates of the trigger cast it as a compromise that will attract the support of the small number of conservative Democrats who have expressed reservations about the public option, as well as Republican Olympia Snowe, who has proposed a trigger.

In my interview with Laura Flanders of GritTV, I analyze the prospects for the public option in the Senate in the wake of the Senate Finance Committee's two votes against public option proposals this week.

The Senate Finance Committee today has unveiled a health care reform plan that does not include a public health insurance option. It instead proposes the creation of health co-operatives. At a media teleconference earlier, I explained why this will not work and should be seen for what it is: an effort to kill what would be an effective competitor to the private insurance market. Please listen below.

The fate of health-care reform hangs on what President Obama and leading Democrats do in the next few weeks. In particular, it hinges on an effective response to moderate Democrats in the House -- known as "Blue Dogs" -- who are threatening to jump ship.

For national health care reform to succeed, it must create accountability in American health insurance, expand coverage while making it more affordable for workers and their families, and adequately fund our health care priorities while putting in place the preconditions for long-term savings to the federal budget. The draft legislation prepared by a special House of Representatives tri-committee promises enormous progress in meeting all three of these goals.

That extended argument Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had in Tuesday's debate over whether a universal health care plan should have an individual mandate carries real dangers that could end up hurting the larger effort to get coverage for the uninsured.

As closed-door discussions continue in the Senate, the resilient bad idea of triggering the public plan is once again on the table. Advocates of the trigger cast it as a compromise that will attract the support of the small number of conservative Democrats who have expressed reservations about the public option, as well as Republican Olympia Snowe, who has proposed a trigger.

In my interview with Laura Flanders of GritTV, I analyze the prospects for the public option in the Senate in the wake of the Senate Finance Committee's two votes against public option proposals this week.

The Senate Finance Committee today has unveiled a health care reform plan that does not include a public health insurance option. It instead proposes the creation of health co-operatives. At a media teleconference earlier, I explained why this will not work and should be seen for what it is: an effort to kill what would be an effective competitor to the private insurance market. Please listen below.

The fate of health-care reform hangs on what President Obama and leading Democrats do in the next few weeks. In particular, it hinges on an effective response to moderate Democrats in the House -- known as "Blue Dogs" -- who are threatening to jump ship.

For national health care reform to succeed, it must create accountability in American health insurance, expand coverage while making it more affordable for workers and their families, and adequately fund our health care priorities while putting in place the preconditions for long-term savings to the federal budget. The draft legislation prepared by a special House of Representatives tri-committee promises enormous progress in meeting all three of these goals.

That extended argument Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama had in Tuesday's debate over whether a universal health care plan should have an individual mandate carries real dangers that could end up hurting the larger effort to get coverage for the uninsured.