Sen. Rockefeller warms to public option compromise

One of the Senate's most vocal proponents of the public option, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), is open to a compromise proposal that has been gaining some steam in recent weeks, he said Wednesday.

"I think there's one way that could work very well and could pick up some of the moderates," Rockefeller told reporters. "I'm looking very much now at this opt-out public option." Under the alternative proposal, the public option would be available nationwide but individual states could decline to participate.

Democratic Sens. Tom Carper (Del.) and Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) -- himself a big cheerleader for the public option -- have been working on that proposal for the last few weeks and the idea has received tentatively positive reviews from some liberal and centrist Democrats.

Rockefeller's purported interest in this compromise is notable given his staunch support for the liberal gold standard for the public option: a nationwide program that would pay medical providers based on Medicare rates, a proposal Rockefeller said would save the government more than $50 billion over 10 years. "An opt-out would still save money," Rockefeller said.

The Senate Finance Committee rejected two versions of the public option during during consideration of its healthcare bill. Rockfeller's amendment would have attached a Medicare-based public option to the measure while Schumer's proposal would have set up a public option that offered higher payments to providers. Rockefeller conceded that he'd backed away from the Medicare-based option. "I can't fight that fight," he said, quickly adding, "I can fight that and lose.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leaning toward including a national "robust" public option that would pay providers Medicare rates plus 5 percent, The Hill reported Tuesday.

The timing of Rockefeller's statements is also relevant as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee are scheduled to meet Wednesday evening to discuss the public option. Dodd's committee adopted a public option based on Schumer's proposal while the Finance Committee bill has none. Reid must decide whether to include some form of public option in the bill headed to the Senate floor next month -- requiring opponents ot corral 60 votes to strip it out -- or exclude the public option from the bill -- requiring supporters to add it in.

The "opt-out" public option is just one of several compromises floated by senators seeking to resolve the controversy. Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe (Maine) proposed enacting a "trigger" that would establish a public option in states underserved by private insurance. Since Snowe voted for the Finance Committee bill and is the only GOP senator to has come out in favor of any Democratic healthcare legislation, Reid will have to give serious consideration to her idea or risk losing her vote.