Blue Dog backs off public option support

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- A leader of fiscally conservative Democrats in the U.S. House says he's backing away from a healthcare reform proposal he supported before the August recess.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., a member of the so-called "Blue Dog Coalition" said he now can't support a reform bill that includes creation of a public health insurance option, The Washington Post reported.

"An overwhelming number of you oppose a government-run health insurance option, and it is your feedback that has led me to oppose the public option as well," Ross said in a statement to constituents.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed out a bill before members returned to their home districts. Among other things the committee's version would expand Medicaid and subsidies to ensure low-income people have coverage.

Ross's rejection of his version of the public insurance option leaves Democrats scrambling to balance ideological differences existing in their caucus, the Post said. Liberal Democrats say a vibrant public option would create competition in the health sector -- and they have the backing of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, who says she can't pass the package without a robust public insurance plan.

In the Senate, meanwhile, a measure offered by Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana would impose new fees on some healthcare industry segments to help offset the estimated $880 billion in initial costs over 10 years, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The plan would provide a lower-cost insurance plan for catastrophic coverage only to people up to age 25, people familiar with the outline said. It also would expand less comprehensive Medicaid coverage to millions of low-income people who now are ineligible.