Have been dodging rainstorms of various sizes for the past few days…from great big menacing storms to wee pocket-sized storms. Allegedly this rain is receding and sunny, colder weather is in store through Monday. I hope this is true as I make the push from here, through Bangor, and out to the coast of Maine. When, if, I get there, I’ll make a decision as to whether to continue north to Quody Head or just directly circle back to my Aunt and Uncles’ place in southern Vermont.

Weather will probably be the determining factor.

Called my two Senators over the past couple days regarding healthcare. Had a productive conversation with Senator Cantwell’s aide; felt I was given a little bit of the bait-and-switch by Senator Murray’s aide. My concerns: (1) Who are the uncovered 5% or so under the Baucus plan? My sense is that part of the reason reform is now so difficult is that only a minority (15%-ish) feel the most obvious effects of our broken healthcare system. If we leave 5% behind, I suspect that we’ll never be able to go back and get them covered. (2) Where is the public option? I see a mandate to buy private insurance without the public option lever to force prices back in line with most of the rest of the world as a very undesirable upshot. Over the past six years I’ve had insurance roughly half the time on three different plans. The private insurance I’ve experienced is no great shakes. Being rushed through doctors offices, regularly being misbilled by the insurance companies and spending a considerable amount of my time arguing with insurance reps to get properly compensated. Cantwell’s aide suggested that the public option, though perhaps on its last legs, is not yet dead. Murray’s aide said that they had passed the public option out of committee. I realized after the fact that this is likely the public option available only to those who don’t have means to buy one of the private insurance plans. I’ll have to follow up on that and see what is what. Everyone should have the choice of a public option in case the private option available to them does not provide adequate quality or value. That’s competition.

I’m going with the idea that the public option is not dead and will be lobbying actively for it.  I should have just christened this trip “the bike ride for the public option”.