I wrote that I support a Medicare-like public option that is a strong, robust competitive player that keeps the health insurance companies "honest" and helps lower premiums by expanding access to EVERYONE. Also, this article in The Nation, has it right about what the bottom line should be for the public option as an essential part of health care reform, and why we should be aware about the dangers of the Schumer so-called compromise.

While progressive advocates are not rejecting his plan out of hand--they even think it could produce a useful compromise--there are two provisions that could wind up gutting the public option. Schumer rules out requiring that providers who accept Medicare patients also take public plan patients. Some believe such a requirement is the only way to ensure that the public option has the market power to get lower rates with enough participating providers. Schumer would also have the public plan pay more than Medicare. The public plan could still bring down costs by paying somewhere between Medicare rates and those of private insurers (the more liberal House is reportedly considering such a structure), but if lawmakers settle on a requirement that the public plan pay prevailing market prices, the point of a public plan will have been largely lost. "It's got to have the ability to hold down rates--to me that's the critical part of it," says Urban Institute economist Linda Blumberg. It defeats the purpose to say, "We have a public plan option but we're going to do everything we can to increase its cost so we can have a level playing field."

The public option has to be aggressive, and it's got to be able to compete everywhere to counter-act the monopoly some insurers have in regional markets. And Democrats, like Senator Charles Schumer, should take care to remember that even with a weakened public option or a toothless public option, the insurers will STILL fight against its inclusion in health care reform.

Now, once again, why am I asking Senator Kennedy not to let us down on a Medicare-like public option? It's because of what he wrote in this editorial in the Boston Globe that gave me pause:

We'll make it illegal for insurers to deny coverage because of a preexisting condition or to impose other restrictions that keep you from getting the care you need. We're also hearing that some Americans want the choice of enrolling in a health insurance program backed by the government for the public good, not private profit - so that option will be available too.

That to me indicates a limited public option. I don't want that to happen. Do you? I want a strong, robust Medicare-like public option that is funded by the government, and is OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS, not just "some Americans."

Then please CALL Senator Edward Kennedy at (202) 224-4543 with this message below:

Say how glad that you are that Senator Kennedy is back to help lead the fight for health care reform. Ask him to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS because you need it as an American. Ask him to lead this effort to support the Medicare-like public option that is funded by the government, and that you want him and the 30 other Senate Democrats to vote against any health care reform bill that does NOT include the public option or has a watered-down public option or has the public option as a "trigger" or "fall-back" option.

Please CALL Senator Max Baucus at (202) 224-2651 with this message below:

Tell Senator Baucus that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS, not more of the SAME broken system that's given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, don't TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform.

Please CALL Senator Charles Schumer at 202-224-6542 with this message below:

Tell Senator Schumer that you DO NOT want the 7-year trigger for the public option and take it off the table, and that you want him to support a strong, robust Medicare-like public option. We NEED a strong, robust Medicare-like public option NOW OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS, not more of the SAME broken system that's given us unaffordable premiums, little private insurance coverage, and rising co-pays. Also, don't TAX OUR EMPLOYER HEALTH BENEFITS. Instead, follow the proposal by President Obama to tax the wealthy above $250,000, eliminate the overpayments in Medicare Advantage, and put tax capital gains to help fund health care reform.

You can even use the Senate Switchboard phone number to call your own senators below:

Senate Switchboard

(202) 224-3121

And don't forget the White House as well!

CALL the White House at: 202-456-1111 and E-MAIL them as well!

Also, it looks like our message yesterday about not taxing our employer health benefits got through to one of the House committee chairmen that we targeted, and here's what Rep. Charlie Rangel said about taxing employer health benefits below:

Representative Charles Rangel said a public plan is essential to compete with private insurers and hold down medical costs. A Senate proposal that doesn’t contain the public option is "totally unacceptable," the New York Democrat, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said in an interview today. "It’s my political judgment a plan without the public option would not be able to pass the House," Rangel said after a speech at a health-care forum in Manhattan. ... Rangel said in the interview that he’s uneasy about a proposal by Baucus and other senators that would tax employer- provided health benefits. "I really don’t think it’s a good law to do that," Rangel said, without ruling it out.

And let's keep on the pressure on these three House chairmen about a Medicare-like public option that is OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS, subsidized by the government through progressive financing revenues, and without a tax on employer health benefit plans below:

Also, can you please CALL these THREE chairmen in the House of Representatives, especially Rep. Waxman who's leading the charge on health care reform below? Ways and Means Committee Chair Charlie Rangel ((202) 225-3625) Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman ((202) 225-2927) Education and Labor Committee Chair George Miller ((202) 225-3725) So, PLEASE CALL and let them KNOW that you want a Medicare-like public option in health care reform! Ask them not to pass a bill out of the House that does NOT include a strong, robust Medicare-like public option OPEN TO ALL AMERICANS.

A Medicare-like public option is the line in the sand for me. Is it the line in the sand for you as well? If so, then CALL, and help keep this on the rec list so others can see the phone numbers and call too today. Thank you!

Also, don't forget to help out Netroots Nation 2009 by donating to Democracy For America to help out more people like me attend Netroots Nation in Pittsburgh!

EDIT: Just placed this on Digg! Digg This Up!

UPDATE: Ben Nelson now open to public option in health care reform????