Public Option in Senate Bill, Harry Reid Says

Sen. Harry Reid said today that the unified bill he negotiated with the White House and the chairmen of the two committees debating health care this year will feature a government-run health insurance option that states can opt out of if they don't wish to participate.

Reid called a press conference today to announce a few, and we do mean a few, of the details of the bill that combined elements of measures passed by the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen Max Baucus, and the Senate Health Committee, led by Sen. Chris Dodd while its late chairman, Ted Kennedy, was ailing.

In discussing the parameters of the public option, Reid would not say when states can begin to opt-out, but did say they have until 2014 to decide. He also said the government option will not be"a silver bullet," and that the bill will include the non-profit co-ops agreed to in the Finance Committee negotiations.

To pay for the expanded coverage, Reid confirmed that a tax on high-dollar employee health insurance benefits is in the unified bill. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka today opposed such a levy as "a tax on the middle class." Reid responded to that charge by insisting, "This bill is for the middle class."

Although Reid said he "feels good about the consensus that was reached," borad agreement among senators on the bill may be difficult to find. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.), the only Republican to vote for health care reform so far, has already raised objections to the compromise. "I spoke to Olympia on Friday," Reid said. "She does not like a public option of any kind." In addition to Snowe, several Democrats, including Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, have raised concerns over the opt-out mechanism that the bill includes.

When Reid was asked if he has 60 votes to pass the bill in the Senate, he said, "I believe we clearly will have the support of our caucus to move forward to the bill on the floor." He did not say whether he has the support to actually pass the bill on the floor.

The bill will now go to the Congressional Budget Office for a budget evaluation and then to the full Senate for debate, amendments and a final vote.