After lots of work making one bill out of two (from the HELP and Finance committees, respectively), Senate majority leader Harry Reid said this week that a Senate version of health care reform will include a public option. Good news! Not to be ungrateful, but if you ask me their public option offer could use (at least) a few improvements:
- Their public option plan includes a provision that gives each state a choice to opt-out of the public option if they choose. It's hard to see why any state would choose to opt out, given that it won't cost states anything and that nobody would be forced to buy into the public option. But, the opt-out remains.
- Even more important: the public option should be available to anyone who chooses it. True competition means having.actual.choices! As it stands, the public option would only be available to those without health insurance through their job. So, if your employer has coverage you don't like, or only offers very expensive coverage - too bad. In fact, you might be mandated to get coverage under your employer's plan (or face a penalty) regardless of whether you actually like that coverage. Not so much feeling the free market forces that drive competition with that one, eh?
Check out where Oregon's own Senator Ron Wyden stands on the public option, and what he plans to do to make sure everyone can choose it if they want.
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Senate leadership has only been persuaded to include a public option at all because of heavy pressure from the majority of us Americans who support it.
So I say, keep up the good work! Write, call and email your Senators and tell them: Thanks for including the public option. Now could you just help make it something I can actually use if I need to?
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