Support building for public option, and new name for it!

Americans are voicing increasing support for a government run health-care plan to compete with private insurers, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Support for the public plan is rising even in the Senate, and members of the House of Representatives are reported to be considering naming the public plan "Medicare -- Part E" or "Medicare for Everyone."

The new poll found that 57% of Americans favor a public health insurance option, up from 52% in August, when anti-reform demonstrators were hogging the airwaves with their warnings of a "government take-over" or "socialized medicine."

Hours after the poll was released, hundreds of health reform supporters rallied near Madison Square Garden in New York City to urge Congress to include a strong public option in health reform legislation. Raising Women's Voices was there, with signs proclaiming: "What women want: a public option!"

In the Senate, liberals are reported to be putting increasing pressure on Majority Leader Harry Reid to include a public option in the final merged Senate bill. The Senate HELP committee bill does have a public option, but the Senate Finance Committee bill does not. Reid, who must merge the two bills together into one Senate bill to send to the floor, is hearing that even some Senate moderates are "warming" to the idea, according to the Washington Post.

Would the public option be even more popular if it had a name people could recognize and understand? That's the thinking behind discussions in the House of Representatives about rebranding the public option "Medicare -- Part E" or "Medicare for Everyone."

Comments

[John]

I think that Medicare Part E - Medicare for Everyone is a great name. I hope it gets coined. More people will understand it. Great post.