Reid: Final health bill will have a 'public option'

[kpete]

Source: Review Journal

Reid: Final health bill will have a 'public option'

By BENJAMIN SPILLMAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said today there will be a "public option" in whatever health insurance reform bill comes out of Congress.

"We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president's desk," Reid said in a conference call with constituents, referring to some kind of government plan.


"I believe the public option is so vitally important to create a level playing field and prevent the insurance companies from taking advantage of us," he said.

Reid also mentioned the inclusion of incentives for healthy behavior, something suggested by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev.



Read more: http://www.lvrj.com/news/breaking_news/Reid-Final-health-bill-will-have-a-public-option-63155937.html

[madokie]

1. Good for Harry

But it leaves me wondering where them hairy ones were on so many other issues

[SandWalker1984]

21. Don't break your arm patting him on the back just yet.

Reid hasn't given us HIS definition of a public option, has he?

[valerief]

2. "It will suck, suck as bad as me, but it will be there, like me. Don't hit me." nt

[EFerrari]

19. LOL

[rudy23]

30. I second that LOL nt

[Pab Sungenis]

3. He's going to pretend that Cantwell's amendment is a "public option"

when it isn't. It's just another giveaway to existing insurance companies.

Tell the Democrats on Finance to KILL THE BAUCUS BILL IN COMMITTEE!

[Samantha]

12. I know nothing about Washington State's plan but

when I heard the announcement of Breaking News on the Ed Show and saw her interview, my first reaction was "Trojan Horse." I hope I am wrong.

Sam

[NYC Democrat]

29. If the process allowed for that I would

but if we have to use reconciliation on this a bill HAS to come out of finance no ifs ands or buts it HAS to come out for a reconciliation bill.

[Barack_America]

4. Woot woot! First rec.

By God, it looks like the regeneration of Democratic spines may just be contagious!

[Oregone]

5. It has to be damn good (accessible & affordable to ALL) to mitigate the mandate disaster

Any ol polished turd labeled "public option" isn't good enough

[Ruby the Liberal]

8. 'xactly. Cantwell's Co-op isn't a "public option"

no matter how she wants to spin it.

[Ironman3476]

10. I'm sure it will need occasional fine tuning

But first we need to pass it,as long as it is a public plan.Not a private company windfall.

[Oregone]

11. No. Fuck that.

"But first we need to pass it"

You don't pass a polish turd along with mandates that carry fiscal penalties. Mandates should not exist unless an affordable, efficient, and universally accessible public health plan exists for everyone.

[Ironman3476]

13. Just can't argue with that

[mvd]

17. That's the only way I'd be ok with mandates

Anyway, it's good that both leaders now have strongly endorsed the PO.

[Zorra]

6. "We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president's desk,"

"We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president's desk,"
"We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president's desk,"
"We are going to have a public option before this bill goes to the president's desk,"

For the record.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Hey Harry - "Public" doesn't stop at Government administered

like the Library, it means open to all who choose to participate.

[Hepburn]

16. +1...n/t

[zbdent]

9. Hope we don't sit there saying "shoulda bet on red" ...

I'm not placing bets that he'll honor this statement ...

[Skink]

14. Obama just signed an executice order banning texting while driving...

Maybe the gloves are coming off.

[Hepburn]

15. Day-um....

...what gave Harry this come to Jesus moment??? :shrug:

[MiniMe]

18. All of the reports that came out about the public option being nixed by Harry

came from "unnamed sources". One thing I have learned since the election is not to believe it unless I hear it from the person's own mouth. And most of it is because the person hasn't made a statement yet. The "unnamed sources" have given us bad information about what Obama is going to do, about what Reid is going to do, what Pelosi is going to do, and about just about every other dem. Who exactly are these "unnamed sources" who have no idea about what is going on?

[Dr Fate]

26. Harry never used the phrase "strong public option" or "Guranteed competition against private ins."

All he said is that there will be "a" Public option.

In that respect, your unnamed sources may still be correct- the public option as most progeressives define it may still be essentially "nixed." The Rockefeller plan certainly didnt seem too popular with our Blue Dog masters.

So all we really know is that Harry is for something that he is *calling* a public option- we still dont even know what he means by "a" public option yet.

[Dr Fate]

25. Are we sure he means a STRONG public option, or does he mean a Harry Reid style public option?

Keep in mind that "strong" is not something generally associated with Reid.

[SandWalker1984]

20. Kill the Baucus Bill before it kills real health care reform!

I heard Cantwell on the Ed Show too, along with the comments from his panel. Cantwell made it perfectly clear that she is totally reconfiguring what constitutes a public option. This thing is so far from Medicare or true health care reform that it is in another galaxy.

Stop and think about this: why did we work so hard to put almost 60 Democrats in the Senate and even more in the House? Was that because we could get real health reform accomplished in the states since the health insurance corporations killed Clinton's boondoggle in 1993? No, we couldn't get true health care reform in the states. The insurance companies destroyed any attempts to rein in their rackets. Look at California - single payer legislation passed both houses but has not been implemented because the corporations own the governor.

They (the insurance corporations) know what this sleezy Cantwell amendment, probably designed by corporate lawyers, will put the effort of true reform in an arena, aka the states, where they have even greater power and leverage than in Washington (which is $1.4 million a day).

If they can buy our federal legislators, I guarantee that they know they will have to spend a lot less to buy state legislators.

[fujiyama]

22. I'm glad to hear both Pelosi and Reid insisting on it

I hope the "public option" they do pass is actually strong enough to protect against egregious abuses we've been faced with by insurance companies all these years. That means no triggers and co-ops and other such nonsense.

And a mandate is only practical if there a real affordable option available to EVERYONE, regardless of age and "pre-existing conditions".

[SandWalker1984]

24. Keith Olbermann gets it, even if you don't......

Keith, on his show tonight, called the Baucus Bill (with the Cantwell "token" amendment) like "sticking an umbrella up your back side." Translation: this bill will screw us.


If we can't get a clean, Medicare-type public option, open to all Americans, out of Baucus's Senate committee, what makes you think you can trust Reid and Pelosi later?


Cantwell, on the Ed Show, said that they wanted to reach out to the Republicans -- not reaching out to the real Democrats that support a true Medicare-type public option.


I smell a rat in the woodpile. Save your cheerleading until we see what specifically develops on the definition of their public option.

[fujiyama]

28. Don't worry

I'm not chearleading for anyone and I certainly don't put any faith in Reid or Pelosi to do the right thing. Hell at this point, I'm not sure I have faith in Obama either.

The last thing I want is some garbage bill with a "public option" in name only that is merely a give away to insurance companies. I don't want anything passed just for the sake of "reform".

[dhpgetsit]

23. I'm glad, but...

I'm still going to do whatever I can to promote a Single-Payer system.

Anything less will be just an appetizer IMO.

[underpants]

27. You mean just like Obama pointed out in his speech?

good. that is fine. once it is in place it will become wildly popular AND work