New twist in Washington gives public option backers some hope
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By DANIEL BARLOW Vermont Press Bureau - Published: October 13, 2009
MONTPELIER – Universal health care advocates are warming up to the idea. And last week, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean embraced it.
It's a proposal that is the latest twist in months of contentious debate over the future of the United States' health care system, and it could be the compromise between foes and backers of a public option that finally passes.
The new idea would create a national public insurance plan, but allow states to opt out. Dean, a Vermont doctor and former Democratic presidential candidate, said last Thursday that if he were a U.S. senator, he would support the proposal to allow states to opt out of a public insurance option as a compromise measure.
"If I were a member of the U.S Senate I wouldn't vote for the [Senate Finance Committee] bill but I would vote for this," Dean told the Huffington Post Web site, adding "not because it is necessarily the right thing to do but because it gets us to a better conversation about what we need to do."
The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on a health care reform plan today – a proposal that does not include a public option. Earlier this fall, the Senate Health Care Committee passed a proposal that does include a public option.
U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., said Monday that he will work to ensure that when the two versions of the Senate bill are reconciled it includes "a strong public option for the country." Sanders is a member of the Health Care Committee.
Sanders said the benefits of a public health insurance option are clear: It offers a choice to consumers shopping around for health insurance and it introduces competition into the equation, which could drive down the costs of other plans.
"The American people must be given a choice," Sanders said. "They should have the option to choose a health insurance plan administered by the federal government or choose own put out by the insurance companies."
Sanders did not sound too enthusiastic about an opt-out of the national public health insurance option, saying the country needs a solution for "all 50 states."
Peter Sterling, the executive director of the organization Vermont Campaign for Health Care Security, supports the public option plan. He's still hopeful that one will pass the U.S. Senate, but said that an opt out plan could also be good for the state.
"The devil, as always, is in the details," Sterling said. "This could be like throwing cut grass in the air and letting it land 10 different ways."
One question that Sterling has is if the federal government will consider one or more of Vermont's publicly-funded insurance plans as a public option.
Federal health officials could look at Catamount Health, which is offered by the private insurance industry and heavily subsidized by the state, as a public plan, he said. They could also consider the Vermont Health Access Plan, a state-run program for low-income residents, as the public option, he added.
"It could actually be amazing if they ask the state to expand VHAP," Sterling said. "It's a great program with great benefits and expanding eligibility would really help out those here without options."
Gov. James Douglas' spokesperson, Denise Casey, said Monday that he has not yet looked closely at the proposal for an opt out program, but expects to soon discuss the idea with other members of the National Governor's Association, which Douglas chairs.
Douglas does like the idea of giving states more flexibility in deciding if they want a public option health plan, Casey said. But he needs more information before making a decision.
"He doesn't know yet how this could affect Vermont," Casey said. "One concern is that because the state has been more aggressive in expanding health care, that we could be hurt under this system."
Contact Daniel Barlow at Daniel.Barlow@timesargus.com.
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