Opting-out

I am not convinced that an opt-out provision (allowing states to opt-out of the public option) is the best way to garner sixty votes in the senate to pass meaningful and effective health care reform.

First, why would a state want to opt-out? It is likely because the insurance industry has sufficiently lined the pockets of the state politicians. It is a good chunk of money to fund the re-election campaign. Also, on principle, Republicans just hate the idea of government involvement in anything, except of course, what we do in our bedrooms, what we say and to whom in our telephone conversations and e-mail, and which sites we visit on the internet. So, the state GOP would opt-out as soon as it had the majority in the state legislatures and the governor’s office. When I first heard about this op-out provision, I thought that it might work if the opt-out had to be passed by two-thirds of the state’s voters. But, given the lack of informed voters, the gullibility of the general public, and the vast sums of money the insurance industry has spent on campaigns in the past, I have no doubt that the industry will dedicate obscenely large sums of money spreading disinformation through wide media campaigns to convince the public to vote to opt-out. Out of ignorance and/or laziness, people vote against their own interests all the time.

Second, there seems to be a consensus among liberal pundits that smaller, poorer states like Alabama and other southern states are the most likely states to opt-out. So, if they do opt-out, what happens to their citizens who are now required to have medical insurance and are at the mercy of the one or two insurance companies who do business in their small states? To be sure, health care reform would not have improved the lives of those citizens, it would have imposed additional burdens on them and made their lives worse.

So , I urge the Senate leaders to pass a meaningful and effective health care reform bill (with a robust public option and without triggers, opt-in or opt-out provisions) through the reconciliation process, not by selling out the citizens in order to get a few, if any, Republicans to vote for it. As for the Blue Dogs, just tell them that you will revoke their committee chairmanships and other influential positions that they hold if they try to block it. Then do it. It is that important.