Senator Reid Announces ‘Opt-Out’ Public Plan, By David M. Herszenhorn AND Robert Pear, October 26, 2009

Senator Reid Announces ‘Opt-Out’ Public Plan,
By David M. Herszenhorn AND Robert Pear, October 26, 2009


The New York Times Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the inclusion of a public health insurance option in the Senate’s healthcare legislation on Monday.

The Senate health care legislation will include a government-run insurance plan, but states would be allowed to “opt out” of it, the majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, announced Monday afternoon.

The question of whether to include a government-run plan to compete with private insurers has been the most controversial topic in the effort by Mr. Reid and other Democratic leaders to meld two competing versions of the Senate health care legislation.

Democrats have been deeply divided. Supporters of the government plan, or public option, have been pushing to include it in the bill before it is brought to the Senate floor, meaning opponents would need 60 votes for an amendment to strip it out.

Opponents of the public option have argued that it should be left out of the bill and that supporters should be forced to offer an amendment to add it to the legislation. In either case, winning 60 votes would seem to be a steep hurdle.

“I’ve concluded, with the support of the White House, Senators Dodd and Baucus, that the best way to move forward is to include a public option with the opt-out provision for states,” Mr. Reid said at a news conference.

“Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the public option works well for them and will have the ability to opt out if they so choose. I believe that a public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system.”

Pressed on whether he could advance the bill with the public option included, Mr. Reid said he believed Senate Democrats would remain united to do so. “I believe we clearly will have the support of my caucus to move to this bill and start legislating,” he said.

But other Democrats were not so sure. Even as liberal groups quickly began heaping praise on Mr. Reid for his decision to support a government-run plan, some Democrats on Capitol Hill privately expressed worries that he did not have firm commitments from all 60 Senate Democrats.

Mr. Reid’s decision, made after nearly two weeks of deliberation, reflects a calculated gamble that the 60 Senate Democrats will stay united and vote in favor of a motion to bring the bill up for debate before the entire Senate.

If 60 senators refuse to support the bill including the government plan with a state opt-out, Mr. Reid would then have to regroup, make changes and try again. Some Democrats believe that liberal members of the party would not relent in their push to include the public option unless faced with such a clear defeat.

Mr. Reid worked through the weekend in an effort to secure votes. Among the Democrats who have expressed doubts about a public insurance plan are Senators Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Ben Nelson of Nebraska.

Mr. Reid’s office did not release many details. In theory, states that wish to opt out of the public plan would have to adopt a law to do so, which would require agreement between the state legislature and the governor.

Even though Mr. Reid has announced his intentions on the public option, the bill is not yet ready to bring to the Senate floor.

Pieces of the legislation will be submitted to the Congressional Budget Office for cost analysis. A number of senators in both parties have said that they will not vote on the bill unless they have had time to review and comprehensive cost estimate.

Some centrist Democrats, including Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Blanche L. Lincoln, said they could not commit to supporting the measure until they had a chance to read the proposal.

Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, who was the only Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, to support the health care bill, issued a statement saying that she would not support for Mr. Reid’s plan. “I am deeply disappointed with the majority leaders’ decision to include a public option as the focus of the legislation,” she said. Ms. Snowe expressed her long-standing position that a government-run plan should only be “triggered”
in states where the health care legislation otherwise fails to provide affordable insurance to enough people.

Mr. Reid, at his news conference, acknowledged that he had likely lost Ms.
Snowe’s vote, though he expressed hope that she would ultimately vote for the final bill.