The Public Health Insurance Option and the Public Misconception of Reform

The Public Health Insurance Option and the Public Misconception of Reform in Politics and Legislation

The big news, to a health insurance blog anyway, was the health reform bill in the U.S. Senate will include a public health insurance option, reported CNN.

A senior aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told CNN that the public option would be included in the bill and have a clause allowing individual states to opt-out of the plan if they chose.

The opt-out clause, something we blogged about last week, is a political answer to for the progressive Democratic base that’s becoming increasingly agitated at the bill’s current form.

Risky move, Senator. Holding on to votes like conservative Democrats like Senator Ben Nelson and Senator Blanche Lincoln could make or break health reform. And we surely can’t forget about Senator Olympia Snowe, who is the only Republican to show interest in what the Democrats are pushing.

So say we do get reform. Say it passes in December and the Democrats, especially President Obama, get a $800 billion Christmas present. Does that mean we the people get ours too? Actually, no, we don’t.

Most of the bill’s provisions, as it currently stands, don’t go into effect until 2013. That’s four years of wondering if the bill to change the health care and health insurance system will work.

Now, on one hand it makes sense. The health system in the United States is such a complicated mess there’s no way we can implement major changes within a few months or even a year. Giving us four years of prepping will likely do a lot of good to help ensure what does work, will work very well.

But for Americans who need relief now, this bill is going to be a big disappointment. And there’s a very good chance public opinion of the bill will take a dive soon after its potential passage.

According to a recent poll from Kaiser Family Foundation, half of America believes that health care and health insurance changes will start to happen in the next year.

A staggering 49 percent think within the next year, people will get financial help in buying health insurance plans. What’s more, 51 percent believe health insurance companies will accept all applications with pre-existing conditions.

So no relief for four years and the push for a public option that could doom health reform entirely?

Talk about a political time bomb.

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