Don’t Ruin the Public Option for Everyone Else, Arkansas

While the House is chugging along with what’s shaping up to be a strong public option, the Senate has come up with a compromise that might make room for government insurance. Essentially, states that don’t dig government-run health care wouldn’t have to have it.

There’s strength in numbers, but letting states opt out if they don’t appreciate government competition is certainly preferable to the “trigger,” which would have the public option come into effect only when certain criteria were met, i.e. never.

Another cause for concern is the compromise’s sponsor, Sen. Charles Schumer, who happens to be among the busiest bees in the health industry’s honeypot this cycle. Forgive us our skepticism. There’s a lot to like about what Schumer has been putting down, but the man has a history of delivering for his back-scratchers, the financial industry chief among them. — PZS

Reuters:

U.S. Senate Democrats focused on Thursday on a potential compromise on a government-run “public” health insurance option that would create a national plan but let states opt out if they chose.

The compromise, designed to resolve one of the most contentious issues in a broad healthcare overhaul, would create a national public insurance option to compete with insurers but allow states to choose an alternative or not participate.

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