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Senate Health Plan to Have 'Opt-Out' Public Option
by Joshua McElwee on Oct. 26, 2009
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Printer-friendly versionSend to friendPDF versionThe New York Times reports that Senate majority leader Harry Reid has announced that the health insurance reform bill he will introduce in the Senate will have a public option, but one that allows individual states to 'opt-out' if they choose.
From the article it's not clear under what conditions, if any, states could choose to opt-out of coverage.
Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine, who was the only Republican to vote for the Senate Finance Committee's version of health insurance reform, is quoted in the article as saying she is "deeply disappointed with the majority leader’s decision to include a public option as the focus of the legislation.”
Maybe Senator Snowe thinks
Maybe Senator Snowe thinks that the residents of Maine should have to do business with insurance companies in order be able to get medical care. The opting-out on a State by State basis is probably part of an effort to secure her support. However, if she is as sensible as she seems to be, she will recognize that the public option is the most effective, efficient, and affordable way to get medical care for the residents of Maine. It would not surprise me if the Senator became a proponent of single-payer universal system of paying for medical care.
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