Yesterday on Meet the Press, Chuck Schumer described the opt out, which we now know is going to be included in the base healthcare reform bill going to the Senate floor.
GREGORY: Explain just for a second how that would actually work.
SEN. SCHUMER: OK. There are some, many of my colleagues on the Democratic side, who would like to see it be a much more government-oriented program; the government sets the rates, a Medicare rate or Medicare Plus 5, you’re forced to take it, etc. What I’ve been proposing is something a little more in the middle. The government would set it up. We need some competition for the insurance companies, and many of us believe this is the only way to get real competition. But then after three months, where they give it some money to get going, it would have to play by the same rules as the insurance companies, the same rates, the same reserves, the same requirements.
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It would have to pay the loan back over a period of years and, most importantly—and people are worried about this, some, anyway, many—it would negotiate rates with the providers just like an insurance company. But in states where there is only one insurance company or two—40, 40 of the 50 states, two insurance companies dominate the market. The only real way or one of the best real ways to bring costs down is a new entity competing.
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SEN. SCHUMER: ...and I and others have been talking to liberal Democrats, moderate Democrats, conservative Democrats. The liberals, they like it stronger, but they’re willing to live with level playing field, opt-out. The more moderate Democrats, there are some who actually like it. As long as it’s a level playing field, they’re comfortable with it. There are others who say that, "I’m not sure I like it, but I won’t hold up passage of the bill." I think we’re very close to getting the 60 votes we need to move forward, and my guess is that the public option level playing field with the state opt-out will be in the bill. But Leader Reid will make that decision after he talks to everybody several times.
While we haven't seen the actual bill yet, this is probably a pretty good basic outline of what it will be. The level playing field aspect of it is certainly far short of what House progressives, and many Senate progressives want. Over the next few days, we'll find out exactly what is in this bill and what the amendment process is likely to be, along with the amendments likely to be offered. For his part, Sen. Rockefeller has been hard at work reviewing the Baucus part of the bill, and outlining his concerns. I think we can probably expect to see at least a few amendments from him.
