Democrats Oppose Public Plan Requirement for Congress

As protests build on the prospect of a public insurance plan in health care reform, some are pointing to two congressional votes as evidence that the architects of government-run insurance don’t even want to be covered by the plan.

Members of Congress and their families have the popular Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which allows participants to choose among 283 private health insurance plans. In fact, analysts at even the conservative think-tank Heritage Foundation cite the federal employee program as an excellent model for a true, free-market insurance exchange.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., proposed an amendment in the Senate Health Committee requiring all members of and their staffs to enroll in the public option. The amendment passed by one vote in July even though nine of the 12 Democrats voted against it. 

“So that we feel the same effects of that plan as every other American that ends up in it and the data shows that a 104 million Americans are going to end up in that plan, so what's good for us ought to be good for everybody else," Coburn said.

 An amendment in the House of Representatives, also in July, did not fare as well. Of the 26 Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee, 21 voted against the amendment offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., killing it with an 18-21 tally.

Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., made a similar proposal in the Energy and Commerce Committee to make the public plan mandatory for the president and the vice president as well as members of Congress. But Blunt's amendment never came to a vote because the Democratic leaders panel ruled it irrelevant to the overall bill, according to PolitiFact.com, a respected fact checker.

“If the majority is really so confident that their plan will provide the very best health care for the people we represent,” Blunt said, “we ought to demonstrate that confidence by enrolling ourselves.”

Democrats opposing the amendments call the measures false choices because they say the public plan would be an option in an array of choices.