Waxman: Healthcare can’t pass House without public plan

A healthcare reform bill can’t pass through the House without a public (or “government-run”) option for consumers included, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) asserted Tuesday.

Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, warned during an appearance on NPR that while the Senate considers scrapping a public option in order to win enough votes, a bill without a public plan could result in significant Democratic defections in the House.

“I feel the House will adopt a public option, and as a matter of fact, I don’t think a bill can pass the House without a public plan,” Waxman said on the “Diane Rehm Show.”

Waxman also derided a potential compromise in the Senate that would establish nonprofit cooperatives for consumers as “gimmicky.”

Some more liberal lawmakers have fretted about the viability of the public plan since White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the Wall Street Journal that the administration may be willing to bend on the issue.

“I feel confident we’re going to get a healthcare bill this year,” Waxman said.

“He has a mandate to do it,” Waxman said of President Obama. “Unlike President Bush who, after his election, said he had a mandate to reform Social Security, but no one had ever heard of it.”