“The House moved America closer to realizing true health care reforms this weekend by passing this legislation,” Wilson said. “We now have a set of real reforms that provides comprehensive coverage and includes a public insurance option, which we believe is key to ensuring choice and controlling costs.

“The League was profoundly disappointed, however, in passage of the Stupak-Pitts amendment, which not only prohibits abortion coverage in the government-run plan but prevents any private plan from offering abortion coverage to plan participants if even just one individual in that plan uses government subsidies,” Wilson stated. “It is our hope that the Senate will do the right thing and pass health care reform legislation without such language and with a strong public option.

“Americans are counting on Congress and the President to end the health care crisis that has brought us skyrocketing costs and an insurance system that leaves millions without coverage," Wilson said. “The League believes that universal coverage will determine the humanity of our system, and a public option will make that possible for those who cannot obtain coverage through traditional employer-sponsored plans.

"But universal coverage is not the only possible advantage of the public option," warned Wilson. "We must control costs, and the public option is the best chance to bring costs down. As a nation, we spend $1 out of every $6 we earn on health care. Over the last three decades, increases in the amount we spend on health care have consistently risen faster than wages and inflation."

Wilson concluded, “The House of Representatives should be commended for taking the first step to achieving comprehensive health care reform. Now the Senate must pass strong health care reform legislation that guarantees quality, safe, and affordable health care to all U.S. residents, including the choice of a public insurance plan.”