The Gang of Six met Tuesday to look over a health care reform bill pending in the Senate Finance Committee, and even though the bill does not include a public option, Sen. Jeff Bingaman says he will support it, according to Politico.
“If it is as I expect it to be, it is clearly a bill I could support,” Bingaman said.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the bill does not currently include a provision for a public option, and Sen. Jay Rockefeller has said that he will not vote for the Baucus bill for that reason.
Iin the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, Bingaman voted for a bill containing the public option. It passed (pdf) two months ago, on July 15.
Bingaman’s website still says, “I strongly support a public option.”
And in Monday’s Albuquerque Journal:
Bingaman said Sunday he still “strongly” supports a public option, “but it’s unclear at this point whether it — or perhaps some other proposal — will end up in the bill.”As this bill takes clearer shape in the coming weeks and months, it’s my hope that New Mexicans’ support for it grows,” Bingaman said.






