Harrycare Buckles to Government Option

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced yesterday that his “Harrycare” bill will include a government option. Looking a great deal like a man who can see the end of his political career looming over the horizon, Reid buckled to the far left ideologues in the White House and his caucus to go over the political cliff.

“We intend to include it [a government option] in the bill that will be submitted to the Senate,” Reid said at the presser. “We’ve spent countless hours over the past few days in consultation with Senators who’ve shown and share a desire to reform the health care system, and I believe there is a strong consensus to move forward in this direction.”

Oops, thought this was about reforming “insurance” not the “health care system,” Sen. Reid. Must be a misspeak after all those long hours.

Reid also said his bill will include an “opt out” at the state level which is a façade. Can individuals “opt out” of the penalties and the mandatory coverage? Can individuals “opt out” of paying for government-run health care for everyone else in the country in the form of higher premiums, higher taxes, and Medicare cuts? Can small business owners “opt out” of the higher payroll taxes?

Who decides what a state does? The legislature? The governor? A state referendum? It’s not clear. Also unclear is what exactly happens in Reid’s “opt out” scenario between passage and the drop dead of 2014 for the state “opt out” date, if you’ll pardon the unfortunate juxtaposition.

Reid also said yesterday that he was sending, “… within the next few hours, to CBO…[a] proposal that we’re sending to them for scoring will make us a step closer to achieving a bill this year that lowers costs, preserves choice, creates competition and improves quality of care.”
Read more here.