The provision was removed from the Senate version of the bill when it passed last December. That's the version of the bill, along with a package of changes the Senate will also pass via reconciliation, that the House will vote on.
Last week, however, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he would lobby heavily to include a public option in the final round of legislative changes that will be proposed in a separate bill during the reconciliation process.
"I still hope we get it on this. If we don't get it on this, we can give it a try," Brown said.
But the provision has been unpopular with conservative Democrats in the Senate whose votes were contingent that it not be included in the final piece of legislation. And Obama didn't include it when he unveiled his own legislative suggestions to the health care bill a couple of weeks ago.
One of the other sticking points that delayed passage of the bill last December was tougher language on the use of federal funds for abortion, which conservative Democrats, such as Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Michigan), demanded be inserted into the bill in order to win their support. The language was included. But House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Friday the abortion language will not be included in the reconciliation version of the bill, despite Stupak's previous stance.
"We don't want to go without their votes but we do want to forge ahead," Hoyer said Friday. "And as you know, Mr. Stupak has made it very, very clear that he's very strongly in favor of seeing health care reform in this Congress, and I think a lot of his colleagues feel the same way. We are hopeful that we will get a majority and we believe we will get a majority."
Jason Leopold is the Deputy Managing Editor at Truthout. He is the author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller, News Junkie, a memoir. Visit newsjunkiebook.com for a preview.
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