On Oct. 8, Congress began to discuss a new idea for the public option in health care reform. It gives each state’s governor the option to opt out of (reject) the public option.
While at first this may seem like another idea (like the trigger public option) to kill or water down the public option, it actually has huge benefits for the Democratic party.
First, it’s an opportunity for Democrats to negotiate a robust public option, as opposed to the current lousy ones on the floor. Second, it decreases Obama’s opposition and improves his ratings, as those who oppose the public option and live in states that won’t adopt it will be satisfied.
Most importantly, the majority of the states that will opt out of the public option are red states with Republican governors. Once reform goes into effect, people will soon realize that the public option is improving people’s health, decreasing bankruptcies and reducing the national deficit. Those who live in states that don’t offer the public option will increasingly turn against their governors, and pressure them to change their mind or replace them with new governors. Even if most of them are replaced with other Republican governors, support for Democrats in every state will rise to unprecedented levels.
Of course, having a robust public option for the entire country and improving everyone’s health is more important than this political game, but having a strong public option with an opt-out option for states that goes into effect in 2010 is more important than a watered down public option for the entire country that starts in 2013 (the current target date). Of course, nothing beats a single-payer universal health care system, but we’ll never have it, as long as we have a monopolistic two-party system.
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Democrats can benefit from potential health care option
Daily Emerald
October 11, 2009
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