INQUIRER: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said during a visit to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital today that a government-run insurance program must be in the final version of health-care reform, even as other Democratic leaders have suggested it could pass without the provision. “No bill can pass the House of Representatives without a public option in it,” Pelosi said, after touring the hospital emergency room. Pelosi said the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the “public option” of health insurance would squeeze $100 billion in costs from the system over 10 years because of competition with private insurers. “That’s hard to ignore,” she said. MORE
PREVIOUSLY: Good Things Come To Those Who Sellout The Public Option For A Little Filthy Lucre
PREVIOUSLY: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, in comments at separate news conferences, said they would support any provision that increases competition and accessibility for health insurance –whether or not it is the public option favored by most Democrats. Pelosi, who said as recently as Tuesday that a public option was essential for passing a health-care bill in the House, on Thursday used language on the issue similar to Obama’s speech. MORE
PREVIOUSLY: This announcement came just hours before Steve Elmendorf, a registered UnitedHealth lobbyist and the head of UnitedHealth’s lobbying firm Elmendorf Strategies, blasted this email invitation throughout Washington, D.C. MORE