Liberals want health insurance bill to lean left

The biggest issue liberals are contending is the "public option," which is a government-sponsored health insurance plan. In fact, labor unions such as the AFL-CIO, Communications Workers of America (CWA), and the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), among others, have declared they will not support a bill without a public option.

In addition to the public option, the bill would expand Medicaid, and provide government subsidies to help people purchase health insurance through government marketplaces. The bill would require nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance, but would ban insurers from denying people with pre-existing conditions.

The labor unions are running a full page ad today declaring the health insurance bill that passed in the Finance committee "deeply flawed." The ad also addresses the included tax on insurers for costly health care plans as "unacceptable." Though the tax technically applies to insurers, it would impact workers, particularly since the tax would apply to 40 percent of all health plans.

It is clear where the labor unions' support lies. Last week, more than 100 AFL-CIO leaders from 27 states lobbied their congressmen on Capitol Hill, delivering thousands of letters written by constituents. The letters call for a bill that meets their health insurance needs. Most of the changes that are being requested were included in the more liberal version of the bill that was submitted to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, or the legislation seen by the House.

Though this is the closest Americans have been to an overhaul of health insurance, there is still a lot of work to be done before the efforts being made now will directly impact the American people. Now that the bill has passed the Senate Finance Committee, it will need to be rewritten into a bill that blends the versions that were passed. Once the final bill is written, it will be sent back to House and Senate floors.

At yesterday's vote, Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine was the only Republican to vote in favor of the health insurance bill.