Four More Senators Join In Call For Public Option And Reconciliation In Health Overhaul

Eight Democratic Senators are now asking Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to use reconciliation to pass a health care overhaul with a public option after four more joined the cause Wednesday, Roll Call reports.

"Democratic Sens. Al Franken (Minn.), John Kerry (Mass.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) added their names to a letter originally sent to Reid on Tuesday by Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet (Colo.), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Jeff Merkley (Ore.)." Roll Call reports that Senate Democratic aides have been drafting a reconciliation package that would need only 51 votes to pass the Senate but that no decision has been made whether to offer it (Drucker, 2/17).

Politico's Live Pulse blog reports that the four senators who joined Wednesday did so as "progressive groups have pushed Democrats to reintroduce the public option in the debate after it failed to get 60 votes in the Senate. Still, its inclusion in a reconciliation bill is a long shot, as many Senate Democrats are loath to refight the public option battle" (Frates, 2/17).