House Majority Leader Implies Health Care Reform Can Pass Without Public Option

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) implied Tuesday that health care reform legislation can pass through Congress without the inclusion of the public option.

“Do I think [the public option] is a condition of passing the bill? My position has been: I’m for the public option, I want to see us adopt the public option, but I think there is a lot in the bill that is very good in addition to the public option,” Hoyer said during a pen and pad session with reporters. “I think a bill can pass the House that the majority of the House believes enhances…the providing of access to affordable, quality health care.”

Hoyer’s statement stands in contrast with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who last Thursday stressed that any attempt at health care reform without the public option will not receive the required votes.

The Majority Leader added that he will not establish a time table for bringing the legislation to the House floor, referring to his previous desire to pass legislation by August as “a learning experience.”