The Congressional Budget Office just said that a public option based on Medicare reimbursement rates would save the government hundreds of millions dollars in comparison to a public option that would have to individually negotiate reimbursement rates with medical providers. This goes against the Blue Dogs’s so-called fiscal conservatism in opposing a robust public option. Here’s more from this story below:

The Congressional Budget Office dealt Blue Dogs a blow Thursday by notifying House Democrats that tethering a public option to Medicare reimbursement rates would save the government $110 billion more than a public option in which the government has to negotiate rates with doctors and other health care providers.

 

The initial projections showed the difference between the two was $65 billion. But this shows it would cost the government a lot more money to heed moderate demands.

House Democrats need to trim as much as $200 billion from a bill that most estimates peg at $1.1 trillion in order to meet President Obama’s $900 billion target.

An actual robust public option saves money, and it’s what the majority of constituents in districts like Rep. Mike Ross’s district supports. Will Rep. Mike Ross actually listen to what the CBO says, or act like Senator Kent Conrad in dismissing the CBO’s projections about the public option?

Once again, please keep on donating to our fund for the ad we’re running in Arkansas against Rep. Mike Ross!  We’re just almost a thousand dollars away from meeting our goal of $78,000!