Pelosi backs off 'robust' public option
Speaker may push weaker version in concert with Senate.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi may not push a "robust" public option after all.
The California Democrat had previously intended to push for the strongest possible government-run insurance plan in the health care overhaulm, Edward Epstein and Alex Wayne report in CQ Today.
Her reasoning: It would put her in a stronger position to negotiate with the Senate, which was not expected to include any public plan.
However, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said in recent days that he may have the votes for an alternative public option, such as one that states could opt out of.
Pelosi, who has been having trouble getting the 218 votes for a robust plan, now may push for a weaker version of the public option in the House bill.
"The atmosphere has changed," she said recently.
-- Ryan Teague Beckwith, Congress.org
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