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http://www.courant.com/news/politics/sns-ap-us-health-care-public-option,0,976647.story
WASHINGTON (AP) — In making his appeal for health care overhaul, President Barack Obama was also sending a clear message to his liberal supporters who've been demanding that any overhaul include a new government-run insurance plan.
I'm with you, Obama was saying, but I need some time and space to try cutting a deal with key Republicans and moderate Democrats who despise the idea of a government plan.
So far, many on the left appear to be going along with Obama's strategy, holding their fire despite their frequently stated view that health care overhaul isn't worthwhile or even possible unless it forces private insurers to compete with the government to cover those who currently don't have insurance.
Big insurers who have been in close talks with Obama's White House and congressional Democrats to reach a deal that could bring them tens of millions of new customers hate the idea of having to compete with a government plan, which they say would devastate their businesses.
Obama used his address to Congress Wednesday night to make the case for the so-called "public option," but he also said it was "only one part of my plan," and stressed that he was open to other ideas about how to rein in insurance abuses and make coverage affordable for those who currently don't have it.
"He didn't define the plan like I would have defined it," said Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., a leader of the liberal Progressive Caucus, which is insisting that any health care legislation contain such an element. "But he didn't slam the door. ... We weren't thrown under the bus."
Grijalva and Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., another leader of the group, wrote to Obama Thursday thanking him for "reiterating your support" for a public option and requesting a meeting with him as soon as possible to talk about defining what it would look like.
Behind the scenes, Vice President Joe Biden huddled in the basement of the Capitol reassuring members of the Congressional Black Caucus during a wide-ranging meeting that the administration strongly supports including a government-run insurance plan in the overhaul.
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