Doug Henwood wrote:
> OBAMA APPEARS TO PREFER TRIGGER, reports POLITICO's Carrie Budoff
> Brown: 'Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is leaning toward putting a
> public insurance option in the Senate health reform bill - a signal
> that Reid increasingly believes he can get the votes needed for a plan
> that would allow states to opt out of the program, senators said
> Thursday. But President Barack Obama stopped short of endorsing the
> approach during a hastily called meeting Thursday with the Senate
> Democratic leadership at the White House, according to an
> administration official. Instead, one Democratic source said Obama
> appeared to prefer a 'trigger' option put forth by Sen. Olympia Snowe
> (R-Maine), who has proposed allowing states to join a national
> insurance plan if affordable coverage was not widely available. This
> would suggest the president has not abandoned his goal of striking a
> bipartisan deal.