Non-profits Plus Medicare Buy-in May Replace Public Option (video)
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PBS’ Newshour with Jim Lehrer covers the new round of Senate negotiations in which Democratic leaders propose foregoing the so-called “public option” in favor of a range of private industry-run non-profit insurance plans regulated by the Office of Personnel Management. Proponents of the public option say the non-profit option may not be able to provide the cost effectiveness and competition a well-crafted solution in line with Pres. Obama’s reform agenda would need.
Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) has been struggling to gather the 60 votes needed to end debate and give legitimacy to a majority vote in favor of the proposed reforms. Jacob Hacker, the Yale professor considered to be one of the “intellectual architects” of the idea for a public insurance option on a low-cost open exchange, told the Newshour’s Gwen Ifyll that a new proposed provision to allow people aged 55 to 64 to buy into Medicare is an “enormous, positive achievement”.
While on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suggested the public option was not key to final passage, so long as certain key goals were met by the final legislation, there continues to be talk about adding to the non-profit plans and the Medicare buy-in a “trigger” that would implement a “robust public option”, if private insurers don’t bring premiums down to levels that meet the reform goals.
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