health carnage

The Senate Will Vote on a Public-Option Option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today that the health-care reform bill that he’ll send to the floor of the Senate will (drumroll … ) include a public option! But this public option won’t necessarily be an option for everybody, because it’ll come equipped with an opt-out clause that will allow individual states to decide whether they want to participate. In other words, it is a public-option option (or POO, for short — we hope this catches on!). Even though the opt-out clause is meant to win over Democrats unsure about supporting a “robust” public option, it still, as of now, falls a few votes short of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster. And it might also turn off the politically important Olympia Snowe, who favors a “trigger” mechanism that will allow a public option only if the private insurance companies fail to bring down prices themselves. But Reid will continue twisting arms, making promises, and, probably, praying.

Reid announces push for public option [Politico]

The Senate Will Vote on a Public-Option Option