Tom Coburn as reported by Huffington Post:

 

“…Coburn, a medical doctor, said that his amendment isn’t a gimmick, but rather a serious attempt to mitigate the harms he believes would come about through the existence of a public option. If the president and other political heavyweights are enrolled in it, his thinking goes, they’ll make sure it runs well.

 

“While I oppose the public option, Republicans and Democrats can agree that we should live under the laws we pass. I can also think of no better way to ensure that the public option is responsive to our citizens than by having the politicians in charge of the system enrolled in the same program. If a low-income, single mom has to wait in line for a life saving treatment, so should our national leaders and their families. Enrolling national leaders in the public option may be the best way to prevent the government from rationing care,” Coburn said in a statement provided to HuffPost.

 

Grassley said the amendment is an effort to close a loophole that he charged Democratic leadership with putting in, that exempted themselves, their staff and others. The Congressional Research Service analyzed the current bill and determined that it did create a carve-out for leadership and staff, according to Grassley. (The origin of the loophole is complicated: Coburn’s health committee amendment contained sloppy language that accidentally exempted leadership and committee staff; Grassley’s amendment in the finance committee did not; the merged bill that Reid sent to the floor includes Coburn’s language that continues the carve out. The new amendment does not.)

 

“The White House and cabinet secretaries are working very hard for this massive overhaul of America’s health care system,” Grassley said in a statement to HuffPost. “It’s only fair that if this bill becomes law, these individuals should themselves be subject to the reforms. The same is true for congressional staff. Quietly carving out leadership staff and committee staff behind closed doors is unacceptable. If the reforms are as good as their supporters say, the reforms should be good enough for everybody.”

 

Read the five page amendment here.