Sen. Reid Announces Senate Health Care Reform Bill Will Include Public Option

October 27, 2009 — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Monday announced that the Senate's final health reform bill will include a federal public health insurance plan option that would allow states to opt out, the Washington Post reports (Murray/Montgomery, Washington Post, 10/27). The proposed national plan would take effect in 2013, when other major provisions of health reform legislation are implemented (Pear/Herszenhorn, New York Times, 10/27). By 2014, states would have to decide if they want to participate in the public plan, according to the Wall Street Journal (Hitt/Adamy, Wall Street Journal, 10/27).

Reid said at a press briefing, "A public option can achieve the goal of bringing meaningful reform to our broken system and will protect consumers, keep insurers honest and ensure competition, and that's why we intend to include it in the bill that will be submitted to the Senate" (Young, The Hill, 10/26). He acknowledged, however, that "[w]hile a public option is not a silver bullet, I believe it is an important way to ensure competition and level the playing field for patients with the insurance industry," adding, "Under this concept, states will be able to decide what works for them" (Levey, Los Angeles Times, 10/26).

Jim Manley, a spokesperson for Reid, said that the new Senate bill has been sent to the Congressional Budget Office for a full cost analysis. He declined to provide further details of the bill, suggesting that the legislative language could be revised after it has been analyzed by CBO. He said that Reid would make final decisions on the bill's components after the new cost scores have been issued, possibly within one week. Manley said, "When we have a final bill, everyone will have an opportunity to see and read what's in it" (Washington Post, 10/27).

Several Congressional Democrats -- including Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Democratic Conference Vice-Chair Charles Schumer (N.Y.) -- and the White House welcomed Reid's announcement (The Hill, 10/26). White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said "As [President Obama] said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition" (Hunter/Armstrong, CQ Today, 10/26).

However, the New York Times reports that Reid appears to have lost the sole Republican vote that Democrats largely counted on. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) -- who voted to approve the Finance Committee bill, making her the only Republican in both chambers of Congress to vote for any of the Democrat-led bills -- said she was "deeply disappointed" with Reid's decision (New York Times, 10/27).