I strongly urge Senators Warner and Webb to join with 14 other U.S. Senators (and counting) and indicate their support for use of "reconciliation" to pass health care reform legislation with a public option. Polling has consistently showed strong support for a public option (57%-40% in this Washington Post-ABC News poll, for instance). It's also, clearly, the right thing to do on with regard to "bending the cost curve." For instance, Congress Daily reported that "a public plan based on Medicare rates would save $110 billion over 10 years." That's a lot of money. In addition, a public option would mean that the "individual mandate" doesn't force us to buy only private insurance, but gives us a high-quality, affordable alternative. So, a public option is the right thing to do for both policy and political reasons. The downside to a public option? [Cue sound of crickets chirping] In short, having a public option as part of health reform is as much of a "no-brainer" as you can get in Congress these days. Which, of course, means it probably won't happen. But we can certainly try, and we can certainly ask Virginia's two Democratic U.S. Senators to indicate their support. Thanks.
P.S. Here's the contact info for Senators Webb and Warner.
Warner, Mark - (D - VA)
(202)224-2023
Web Form: warner.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=Contact
Webb, Jim - (D - VA)
(202) 224-4024
Web Form: webb.senate.gov/contact/
