Dean: Kill Bill With No Public Option

(Politico) - Without the public option, the health care bill "is worthless and should be defeated," Howard Dean told Yale University students Monday.

The Yale Daily News posted a short item on its website (with a longer story expected Tuesday) reporting the harsh assessment from the former DNC chair and Vermont governor:

"Congress isn’t going to pass a bill that reforms health care," Howard Dean '71 said. "What we want is to have the kinds of choices so that we can reform health care."

Dean, former Head of the Democratic National Committee and a 2004 Democratic candidate for president, addressed 50 undergraduates at a Pierson College Master's Tea Monday afternoon. His talk on health care comes on the heels of the release of his new book, "Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Health Care Reform," as well as the start of debate about the health care bill on the Senate floor. According to Dean, the most important component of the health care bill is the public option.

"If we don’t have a choice, this bill is worthless and should be defeated," the former Governor of Vermont said.