Blanche Lincoln has been spending a lot of time thinking about health care reform, and about that ad Blue America plans to start running in Arkansas asking why she hasn’t committed to a strong public plan that forces insurance companies to shape up or lose market share.

So she’s moving, not to another state, but to another point of view.

Via dday and Digby (and help from Jane, Howie Klein and John Amato), whose efforts helped create the ads Sen. Lincoln doesn’t want to see, here’s the latest letter the Senator sent her constituents (in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette) on what health care reform needs to include. As Digby says, "she’s almost there."

After citing several insurance/health horror stories, Lincoln concludes with this:

Arkansans deserve better.

Health care reform must build upon what works and improve inefficiencies. Individuals should be able to choose from a range of quality health insurance plans.Options should include private plans as well as a quality, affordable public plan or non-profit plan that can accomplish the same goals as those of a public plan.

Coverage alone does not result in access. We must invest in our nation’s health care infrastructure-its providers, technologies and facilities-especially in rural America where health care services and providers are fewer and farther between. We also must deliver health care more efficiently and create incentives that promote high-quality outcomes for patients instead of simply encouraging more provider visits and services.

Above all, we must bring stability to health care. Stable health care coverage will protect Arkansans during tough times and ensure that they do not lose insurance when they get sick. Stable costswill mean that Arkansans will not be subject to large premium increases each year that erode their paychecks. Stable quality of care will ensure that Arkansans have dependable treatment options so they can see a doctor of their choice when they need care.

As we work to reform health care, we must be responsible and pay for reform without adding to the deficit and increasing taxes on hard-working Arkansans.

Unfortunately, opponents of reform, who have no real plan for improving health care, are already using the tired arguments of the past. They say that Congress is trying to create “more government” or a “Washington takeover” of health care, which will raise your taxes, get between you and your doctor, and eliminate private insurance. It’s a strategy that spreads misinformation and generates fear to preserve the status quo. Arkansans should not be misled by those who oppose real reform.

I am under no illusion that achieving meaningful health care reform will be an easy task. However, I am committed to reform because Arkansans must have certainty that if they get sick, they will have options to receive stable, affordable and high-quality health care.

Congress is on the verge of developing a health care policy that will work better for everyone and we cannot afford to let this opportunity slip away. Our health care crisis was not created overnight and it will not be fixed overnight. It will take all of us-individuals, employers, insurers and providers-to share in the responsibility and come together to make this possible. We know that government cannot do it alone. The key is to take what works and make it better for the next generation of Arkansans. We can no longer afford to sit back and do nothing.

There’s hope for Blanche, because there’s lots of good stuff here in addition to the movement on the public plan. Well done, Arkansas. And we’re not done yet.

More: Greg Sargent picks up the story
dday at Digby’s, Pressure works