The focus on health care reform shifted to the Senate after the House late Saturday narrowly passed legislation. Senator Bernie Sanders said he hopes the Senate version will “provide quality health care to tens of millions of Americans at an affordable cost.”  He said one of his top priorities is a strong public option that would provide competition for private insurance companies and help put the brakes on rapidly escalating health care costs that are projected to double in eight years.  “I am going to work very hard and be very aggressive in trying to make the legislation as strong as it possibly can be,” Sanders added.

The public option is a component of the House bill, but Sanders said he hopes the final product will more effectively control costs and providing access to health care to more people. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that a public insurance option will be included in legislation he will bring to the Senate floor. An analysis of the cost of the Senate plan by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is expected later this week.