As we've noted before, Democrats will have to stay united if they want to pass health care reform in Washington this year. (After all, Republicans aren't so keen on the approach favored by the president and congressional leaders.) And any meaningful reform should include a strong public option -- a government-run insurance plan which would be able to negotiate the price of services, lower administrative costs, and apply competitive pressure to private insurers.

Some lawmakers in the Illinois congressional delegation have already come out in support of such a plan. While Rep. Dan Lipinski endorsed the "level-playing field option" -- in which the government-run plan would be granted no special advantages over private insurers -- Rep. Phil Hare told grassroots organizers last week that any a bill without a robust public option is "like a car without a motor." Now Rep. Bill Foster is falling in line with his colleagues.

Coming off his disappointing vote against the climate change bill, Foster and 21 members of the New Democrat and Blue Dog coalitions wrote a letter (PDF) to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last Wednesday signaling their support for a strong public option without a trigger option (meaning that a government-run plan would only be created if private insurers failed to meet certain cost and coverage criteria after multiple years.) Downtowner at the Progressive Fox has some analysis:

Where this letter is concerned, these 22 New Democrats and Blue Dogs are essentially breaking with their coalitions to offer support for a strong public option that may prove critical to actually achieving some reform that will move us toward actual health care for all.

While not all moderate Dems will back the public option, it makes economic sense to do so. Early projections from the Congressional Budget Office, obtained by The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn, estimate that such a provision would save about $150 billion over ten years. It's a number that other moderates like Rep. Melissa Bean should look at closely.