Bi-Partisan Group of Senators Ditching Public Plan and Employer Mandates

Clearly this is about the Baucus plan and if the Bi-partisan bill goes forward the President is going to be caught between a politically popular compromise that will drive his base nuts, or rejecting a plan that in favor of a radical overhaul desperately wanted by the left:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Officials say that a bipartisan group in the Senate is edging closer to a health care compromise that omits a government insurance option that President Barack Obama favors. Nor is it expected to require businesses to offer coverage to their employees.

Like health care bills drafted by Democrats, the proposal under discussion by a group of lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee would bar insurance companies from denying coverage to any applicant. It also would prevent firms from charging higher premiums on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions.

But it jettisons other core Democratic provisions in an attempt to gain a bipartisan flavor. The officials who described the talks spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The dropping of the business mandate as well as the public plan leaves mandated insurance with subsidies for lower income workers, health care co-operatives and exchanges, and the presidents request for billions to increase the use of electronic records. Most importantly such a bill would not require the massive tax increases put forth by Rangel and company.