Progress Illinois

Today on Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats are holding hearings and beginning to hammer out legislation for comprehensive health care reform, a highly-anticipated debate that's expected to dominate the floor this summer. But for months, a broad coalition of proponents here in Illinois -- aligning themselves under the Health Care Justice Campaign (HCJC) -- have been pushing for progressive solutions.

Over the weekend, Peoria-based Rep. Aaron Schock drew the coalition's attention. Activists met the Republican at the doorstep of his district office to pressure him to support the inclusion of a "public plan" in any reform package, which is being pushed by Sen. Dick Durbin, 15 other Democtratic Senators, and 100 members of the House Progressive Caucus in Washington. Schock tried to brush off the demonstrators, telling the Peoria-Journal Star that it was a "political stunt." But this flimsy response shouldn't suffice.  (CLARIFICATION: Schock was actually responding to a separate rally conducted that same day by Health Care For America Now (HCAN) and Citizen Action/IL. As a commenter below points out, both HCAN and HCJC "are fighting for a public health insurance option, and both organizations are calling out Rep. Schock as an obstacle to health care reform.")

For evidence that public opinion is on the side of the activists, just look at our western neighbors. A Des Moines Register poll released this week found that there's majority support for a public plan in Iowa:

The Iowa Poll found that 56 percent of Iowans support creation of a public plan. Thirty-seven percent oppose the idea and 7 percent are unsure. If such a plan were created, 47 percent of Iowans who aren't already insured by government programs say they would consider enrolling.

For years, HCJC -- a project of the Campaign for Better Health Care (CBHC) -- has organized on behalf of expanding health care to both the under-insured and those priced out of the private market. As these ranks have continued to swell, organizers have succeeded in attracting union support and also drawing supporters -- particularly business owners and faith-based groups -- who aren't necessarily perceived as left-of-center in their political views.

As CBHC's director Jim Duffet told us earlier this spring, "We're broadening the political landscape so when these boogieman statements about socialism and an overreaching government arise we'll have people, and not just liberal Democrats, who will help us downplay these claims." Peoria Story's Elaine Hopkins explains how the strategy played out at the most recent rally:

[T]hese activists have come up with an interesting strategy: Schock claims to be for small businesses. So small business owners swallowed hard and came together, in Peoria, to plead for health coverage reform. Most have no coverage or very expensive, inadequate coverage. Several made statements at the news conference.

HCJC has already taken aim at three other members of Illinois' GOP congressional delegation -- John Shimkus, Tim Johnson, and Judy Biggert -- who, like Schock, have expressed reticence about any Democratic-led health care reforms. The next stop for the group is a series of town hall meetings during the last week of May.