WASHINGTON - August 18 - ADA National Director Michael J. Wilson issued the following statement in response to news a public option was no longer being considered as an essential part of the current health care reform legislation:

"The election of Barack Obama and a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate is a once in a lifetime opportunity to pass real health care reform. It is time for Congress to deliver quality, affordable health care to every American, and for the Obama Administration to make that hope a reality.

"Real health care reform must include a real public option.

"The idea that reform will come from big insurance companies' generosity and willingness to police themselves is laughable. Without competition from a public plan all we'll get is more of the same.

"ADA applauds those Members of Congress who are standing firm in favor of the public plan - especially the House Progressive Caucus. When nearly 50 million Americans are uninsured and a majority of bankruptcies are due to medical costs, drastic action must be taken.

"A public option is a major step forward and must not be negotiated away by politicians too timid to accomplish what the American people sent them to Washington to do."