Senate Bill To Include Opt-Out Public Option
Harry Reid is holding a press conference starting at 3:15 to announce the details of the health care bill that will voted on by the Senate. Early reports say that the bill will include the opt-out public option. This is important because it will take 60 votes to remove the public option out of the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid appears poised today to announce his intent to include a public option with an opt out clause in the bill he brings to the Senate floor.
Policy details will likely be scarce, and the draft bill could still change. What goes to CBO will have different options under certain sections of the legislation, and there are conflicting reports that Reid might ask the CBO to send back analyses of other versions of the public option. Though most on the left would prefer it if public option compromises would simply be suffocated of all oxygen, it’s also true that if a public option with an opt-out clause is included in the base bill, it will to a great extent shape the the floor debate. (For instance, 60 votes would be required to strip the public option out of the bill.)
I will update when the announcement is made.
Update The bill will include the public option.
Update #2 The bill will also contain co-ops. I’m not sure what that’s about. Is it for states who opt out to form state-based public options?
Tags: Harry Reid, Health Care Reform, U.S. Senate
This is important because it will take 60 votes to remove the public option out of the bill.
So now the insurance companies can only ruin it by adding to it, not by stopping it (assuming Reid can hold 50 votes together). That is a different ball game. We might have to eat malpractice caps and abortion restrictions.
Daily Kos liveblog
I probably shouldn’t be okay with this (on a purist level), but I am. I am more than ready for those red states to put their money where their mouths are. I am not a nice person.
All things considered, I don’t have too much of a problem with opt-out. Yeah, some people in red states will get left out at first, but I honestly think that once it starts to work in other states, it will become a political liability to be against it. The bigger issue is to get something like Wyden’s Free Choice thingy through. No matter how good the PO is, it won’t do much if almost no one can get into it (or even just have the threat of moving to it).
I agree Scott. The next priority should be the Wyden amendment. I don’t think we’ll get it in this go-around though. We’ll probably only get it after people realize that they can’t have the public option that want it.
Worth reading: Nate Silver’s analysis on why the public option survived.
why are we waiting till 2013 to put the plan in effect? Opt out should not take place till at least 4 years after the plan go’s forward. And what would of happened to the 60’s civil rights bill if the states could opt out. Sorry Harry Reid you missed you chance to be a leader.
No matter how good the PO is, it won’t do much if almost no one can get into it
Unless it causes insurance companies to drop costs across the board for everyone. That wouldn’t solve the problem of covering the uninsured but it would still be a good thing.
Why wait until after 2013 for the plan to take affect? Elections!
“some people in red states will get left out at first, but I honestly think that once it starts to work in other states, it will become a political liability to be against it.”
That’s what I’m hoping for.
The bill is far from what I want (single-payer & universal), but this bill has the potential to help millions of Americans.
Go, Dana!
Dana is right — let the local pols “opt-in” for whatever political liabilities they think they can manage.
And as to why this won’t go into effect until 2013 — you do know that Medicare Part D took 2 or 3 years to implement after it passed Congress, right? These programs don’t implement themselves and will take a little bit of time to set up so people can get to them.
Delaware will be the First State to Opt Out! Greedy insurance companies will buy off just nuff leg’s to stop it. Won’t take millions just few grand will bribe Del’s leg’s!
good news. and let’s all thank Rep. Joe Wilson for his part, you know, for giving the sane public the knowledge that the right isn’t interested in any compromise – ergo – who gives a shit what O. Snowe thinks!
with that said, the PO is not up to spec, yet. in order to be effective in creating true competition, the PO must be available to anyone who wants it. a much larger pool of participants means more bargaining power…well, that’s what the corporatists say anyway.
as it is right now, maybe a few to 10% would be eligible for the PO.
I’m reaching the point where I don’t expect to be thrilled with what will pass for a public option, however I think just the existence of a public option (even flawed) may be what’s most important. A sort of if you create it, they will come and they will tweak. But… in order to tweak, it must first exist.
my own belief is the final bill will be a full public option (available to anyone) with the state opt-out. the House most likely will have the Medicare +5.
they’ll have to reconcile.
Beware Dems, if we create a flawed program we will own it. I see the next generation of campaign slogans:
Repubs: “It’s not working, we have to end it.”
Dems: “It’s not working, we have to fix it.”
Worst case it will end up like NCLB or Medicare Part D.
Hoo boy.
anon, the Repubs will never say the program works. Look at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, interstate highways, etc.
The insurance industry will continue to exist and lobby against the public plan. If you strike at the king, you must kill him.
Agreed VC. I think the next big fight should be the Wyden amendment. Wyden is promising a floor fight but it now has a 60-vote hurdle to overcome. I doubt the trigger/co-op/opt-ins are willing to make the P.O. more accessible but we should make them stand up and say no.
pandora,
I totally agree and I think it’s important to get the best P.O. we can get from the start.