Public Option on Deck for Friday

Democratic Senators Jay Rockefeller and Chuck Schumer said Thursday evening that they plan to turn debate on the Senate Finance Committee toward a government-run public option on Friday. No public option is included in Chairman Max Baucus’s current health care reform bill and none is expected one to be added, simply because there are not enough supportive votes on the committee to pass such an amendment. (Health reform bills from the House and Senate HELP committee do include a public option and this is arguably the most contentious issue still to be worked out among Congressional Democrats.)