Hoyer: 'Some form' of public insurance option will pass House

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) suggested Friday that the House was capable of passing a health reform bill that contains some variant of the public option.

"We'll have to see how that legislative process goes. The public option is a priority for us, it's our objective, and we think that in some form, a public option will be available," he said during an interview on CNN.

But when Hoyer was asked whether he would vote against a proposal without the much-contested provision, he told CNN:

I'm prepared to pass a healthcare reform bill that provides millions access to affordable, quality healthcare ...

We think the public option is an important component of that. But obviously you're going to have to have 218 votes in the House and you're going to have to have at least a majority in the Senate to do that. We'll have to see how that legislative process goes.

Hoyer has recently approached the public option lukewarmly. The majority leader has routinely signaled his support for such an idea, only to promptly suggest that it may not be politically feasible.

"In the final analysis, we have to see what will pass," Hoyer said at the beginning of the week. "If the public option wasn't in there, I still could support it, because I think there's a lot in there that's good."

Hoyer has been less insistent on the public option than has Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who for weeks said the House-passed bill would include that very provision. Pelosi showed new flexibility on Thursday, however, saying she preferred a public option but indicating her willingness to follow another direction as long as goals for affordability, accessibility and quality are met.