DENVER-- At a townhall meeting held at National Jewish Hospital here that covered hot-button topics including abortion, euthanasia, illegal immigration and swine flu, Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette stated that she would not vote for a health reform bill that did not include either a public option or an alternative that would challenge private health insures to reduce the cost of health care coverage.
"We have to have something in this exchange that will lead to competition," she said, adding that, as majority whip, she had counted the votes and could "guarantee that a bill will not pass out of the House without a public option or some robust alternative."