Government health plan would compete with private insurance

Though Democrats aren’t united on a health care reform package, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown said a vote on it could be on the Senate floor as early as the first week in August and no later than September.

The Democratic-controlled House and Senate are working on separate health care reform legislation attempting to get a final plan to President Barack Obama by the end of the year.

The president gave Congress a deadline of the end of the year to give him legislation to sign that would reduce the cost of health care coverage for Americans and provide a plan to cover the uninsured.

In a conference call today, Brown, a Democrat from Avon, Ohio, said he’s “very optimistic” the legislation “will be on the president’s desk in October or November at the latest.”

The goal is to provide health insurance coverage options, including a public plan, for all Americans, said Brown and Nancy-Ann DeParle, Obama’s director of health reform, who joined the senator on the conference call.

“There will be affordable options,” DeParle said.

A public plan run by the government would compete with private insurance companies, she said.

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