Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today applauded news that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid intends to include a public option in the health insurance reform bill that the Senate will debate in the coming weeks. A public insurance option is a non-profit health care plan that would be run by the federal government and financed with premiums. 

Bingaman helped craft the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee’s public plan proposal, and voted for both unsuccessful measures to include a public plan in the Senate Finance Committee’s bill. 

Reid is currently working to meld the different bills passed in the HELP and Finance committees.  He is expected to include a public plan similar to the one in the HELP legislation, but that allows states to opt out of participating in it.

“It has always been my strong preference that we include a public insurance option.  I believe it will be a very useful tool for containing health care costs,” said Bingaman, who added that the public plan should follow the same rules as private plans for defining benefits, protecting consumers, and setting premiums that are fair and based on local costs.

“I applaud Senator Reid for working hard to gain Senate support for a public plan proposal,” he said.

Bingaman pointed out that the health reform legislation would take many other important changes to the law, including a proposal that prevents healthcare companies from denying insurance to Americans with pre-existing conditions.