12-1-09 Yet another new public option compromise?
Senate Democrats are continuing to renegotiated the public option, possibly removing the “opt out option” from the Senate bill. According to reports from the New York Times, the new deal would “sideline but not kill” the public option. The deal is still tentative at this point, but it appears to involve some sort of a “trigger” mechanism.
According to numerous sources (see below), this latest version of the public option involves three main points:
- A Medicare buy-in – The buy-in would be phased in starting 2010 or 11, and by 2014, Medicare would be available on the insurance exchanges to Americans age 55 to 64.
- A nonprofit health care network – Starting again in 2014, the government would create a program wherein private insurance companies would start national nonprofit insurance plans available on the exchanges, modeled after the health care plans offered to federal workers. The plans would be regulated by the United States Office of Personnel Management, an independent, nonpartisan federal agency that currently runs the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program.
- A possible public option trigger – The deal may include something similar to Senator Olympia Snowe’s original proposal, a trigger that would be pulled if the nonprofit network did not meet certain standards for providing affordable care. It appears that the exact standards have yet to be determined.
Again, the deal is still very tentative, and may change soon. Many sources doubt that the final version of the bill will appear this year. Americans may have to wait until January of 2010 to see a final bill on President Obama’s desk.
Sources and More Information:
OpenCongress – A Breakthrough on Health Care — Drop the Public Option, Open Up Medicare
NY Times – Public Option Keeps Toehold in Senate Deal on Health Bill
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/health/policy/10health.html?ref=health&pagewanted=print
NY Times – Reid Says Deal Resolves the Impasse on the Public Option
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/us/09health.html?_r=3&hp=&pagewanted=print
