The arduous process of merging the various Senate and House health care bills into two bills that can be sent to a conference committee is underway. Senate Majority Leader Reid and House Speaker Pelosi are trying to bridge the differences between the various provisions in three important areas: reimbursement rates, employer mandates and premium affordability. Speaker Pelosi is insisting that the final House bill include a public option and has sent three different plans to the CBO for cost analysis. The three plans handle provider reimbursement in different ways: same as Medicare rates, 5% above Medicare rates, and negotiated. Predictably the CBO says the Medicare rates are the best for controlling the cost of the program as well as making premiums the most affordable. However, the plus five percent plan would also save money, about $85 billion more than market rates, and make premiums about 10% less expensive than private plans. A report by The Hill newspaper says progressives are within ten votes of passing the "robust" or plus 5% version. Senate leaders are finding out that the public option instead of insurance co-ops provides the best measure of cost control{10.9.09}, but many conservatives think government participation in the insurance market anathema to their corporate sponsors. If the Senate bill offered by the Majority Leader for a floor vote does not include a public option, most probably it will be introduced as an amendment from the floor. Incredibly the Chamber of Commerce spent $34.7 million lobbying Congress for pro-business legislation in the third quarter this year. That is more than the next 18 organizations spent together. The organization ought to be renamed the "Chamber of Influence". If you want affordable health insurance, call your representative today and ask the member to support The Public Option: insurance for the rest of US. Call 202-224-3121.['toon by Conde Nast, Harper's Weekly. The caption reads, "The ass having put on a lion's skin roamed about the forest...frightening all the foolish animals he met with in his wanderings."]