Reid Announces Support for Public Option with Opt-Out
26 October 2009 2:50 pm by Taylor Marsh
–updated–
“The President congratulates Senator Reid and Chairmen Baucus and Dodd for their hard work on health insurance reform. Thanks to their efforts, we’re closer than we’ve ever been to solving this decades-old problem. And while much work remains, the President is pleased that at the progress that Congress has made. He’s also pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out. As he said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition.” – Robert Gibbs, from the White House
After a weekend of furious activity, Democratic leaders in the Senate think they are close to getting the votes they need in order to pass an “opt-out” version of the public option. But they feel like President Obama could be doing more to help them, with one senior staffer telling TNR on Sunday that the leadership would like, but has yet to receive, a clear “signal” of support for their effort. – Senate Dems to Obama: Um, a Little Help Here?
Reid’s press conference was short and sweet. He’s betting that when the bill comes back from the CBO and gets to the floor, when Republicans try to filibuster it, Democrats like Lieberman, Nelson, Landrieu, and even Blanche Lincoln won’t join the filibuster. That doesn’t mean they’ll vote for a bill that has the public option in the end, but that they won’t give Democrats a defeat on the Senate floor
It looks like he’s going to send several forms of Senate legislation to the CBO. Via Shailagh Murray of the Washington Post:
Senior Senate sources said they have been informed by Reid that the leader intends to send several versions of health-care reform legislation to the Congressional Budget Office for cost analysis, and that the bills may offer different approaches to creating a public option.
Three options are opt-in, opt-out, and the trigger, favored by Sen. Snowe.
There is still no sign Obama is sticking his neck out on this one. He’s hanging back to see what Reid can do. If Reid falls short, then no one can say he didn’t try.
This post has been updated and augmented since Reid’s press conference.
