Reid, Baucus ready to split on public option as vote nears

http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/61561-reid-baucus-ready-to-split-on-public-option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), once in polite disagreement over the idea of a public option component in healthcare legislation, are approaching a breaking point over the issue.

Reid and Baucus have staked out opposing positions on the central question of a government role in health reform — Reid has consistently stood in favor, but Baucus has consistently said the idea doesn’t have enough Senate support.

Instead, Baucus has inserted insurance co-operatives into the bill that is scheduled for a final vote on Tuesday.

After that, decision time will loom for Reid, who has said he plans to merge the Finance Committee version with the one passed by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in July. The majority leader has said he plans to consult Baucus — with whom he enjoys a generally good relationship — along with HELP Committee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and the White House.

But the Nevada senator’s input will be critical. Having deferred the issue to Baucus this summer, Reid signaled on Thursday that he is prepared to join Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), who both pushed a public option amendment that failed in a committee vote last Tuesday.

but they act as if Finance Committee is the only bill out there.