Monday News Updates: Climate Change, Stock Market and Health Care Update

Meeting on Climate Opens With Calls for Urgent Action

COPENHAGEN — A much-anticipated global meeting of nearly 200 nations — all seeking what has so far been elusive common ground on the issue of climate change — got under way here on Monday with an impassioned airing of what leaders here called the political and moral imperatives at hand.

Tightening Fears Send Stock Futures Lower

U.S. stocks rose slightly Monday, as gains in the utilities and health-care sectors were offset by concerns over whether interest-rate increases could come sooner than previously expected.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 8 points, to 10397 in early trading. American Express was one of its best performers, up 1.3% following an upgrade of credit-card companies by analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. However, Bank of America slipped 1.2%, and General Electric fell 1.1%.

How About a Public Option With Private Insurance?

Here’s an angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin question to kick off the week: If the public option offers private insurance, is it still the public option?

To win the favor of few key centrists wary of creating a government-backed insurance plan, Senate Dems may shift from the pure-play public option — a government-run insurance plan — to a plan more like the one used to cover federal employees. The basic idea: Allow people to choose from an array of private non-profit insurance plans, in a system overseen by a government office. To get some idea of how this might work, check out the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.