Debt panel chairmen call for 2nd look at public option

From Alexander Bolton of The Hill on Nov. 10:

The chairmen of President Obama’s fiscal commission are calling for a second look at a robust government-run healthcare program, which Congress shelved last year following acrimonious debate.

Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), the chairmen of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, suggested reviving the public option in the future if healthcare costs continue to soar.

They made the suggestion in a 50-page co-chairmen’s proposal released to reporters on Wednesday. It is one of many ideas for controlling the federal deficit that is likely to spark heated debate in Congress in the weeks and months ahead.

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