The Senate Finance Committee on September 29 shot down the controversial healthcare reform initiative of creating a public option health insurance plan to compete with private insurance companies.
The first rejection of the public option in the Senate was over an amendment to the healthcare overhaul legislation put forth by Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia), who is one of the lead Senate supporters of creating a public option. The amendment failed by a vote of 15 to 8. More public option amendments will be up for vote, however.