Jeffrey A. Setaro

Political & Cultural Commentary from a Constitutional Conservative.

Is the Public Option Dead?

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I’m hearing rumblings from various sources that the Democrats so called Public Health Insurance option is dead in the the Senate… The Associated Press is reporting that a bipartisan group of Senators is close to a compromise agreement that would eliminate the employer mandate and the public option, two of the Democrats top priorities from the bill:

After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer Monday to a health care compromise that omits two key Democratic priorities but incorporates provisions to slow the explosive rise in medical costs, officials said.

These officials said participants were on track to exclude a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for businesses to offer coverage to their workers. Nor would there be a provision for a government insurance option, despite President Barack Obama’s support for such a plan.

The three Democrats and three Republicans from the Senate Finance Committee were considering a tax of as much as 35 percent on very high-cost insurance policies, part of an attempt to rein in rapid escalation of costs. Also likely to be included in any deal was creation of a commission charged with slowing the growth of Medicare through recommendations that would take effect automatically unless overturned by Congress.

Assuming for the moment that the rumblings are true and the employer mandate and the public option are really dead it’s no reason to celebrate… The Democrats can still push through some pretty big changes like an individual mandate, highly regulated insurance market, major subsidies, etc. Similar to the Massachusetts model, a plan that’s already already failing. Costs have more than doubled from $630 million in 2007 to an estimated $1.3 billion for 2009. That’s simply not sustainable.

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