Lieberman Confident of Defeat of Medicare Expansion, Public Option

On Capitol Hill, healthcare reform negotiations are intensifying as Senate Democrats pursue the sixty-vote threshold needed to avoid a Republican filibuster. President Obama emerged from a meeting with Democratic senators Tuesday to call for the bill’s passage before the Christmas holiday.

President Obama: “I am absolutely confident that, if the American people know what’s in this bill and if the Senate knows what’s in this bill, that this is going to pass, because it’s right for America. And I’m feeling cautiously optimistic that we can get this done and start rolling up our sleeves and getting to work improving the lives of the American people.”

Democrats are expected to finalize a significant revision to the measure to appease Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman. On Sunday, Lieberman announced he would oppose the healthcare bill unless Democrats removed a provision lowering the age of Medicare eligibility to fifty-five. The Medicare expansion had been added in exchange for meeting the demands of senators, including Lieberman, who have opposed the public option. On Tuesday, Lieberman said he’s now confident both the Medicare expansion and the pubic option have been abandoned.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman: “If, as appears to be happening, the so-called public option, government-run insurance program is out, and the Medicare buy-in, which I thought would jeopardize Medicare, cost taxpayers billions of dollars over the long haul, increase our deficit, is out, and there’s no other attempts to bring things like that in, then I’m going to be in a position where I can say—I’m getting toward that position where I can say what I’ve wanted to say all along, that I’m ready to vote for healthcare reform.

-Dem Now