When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid first announced that he’d chosen to include a public option with an opt-out provision in his health care bill, he suggested that states would be required to offer the government insurance plan for a year before opting out. Well, it appears as if he’s dropped that requirement.
In general, the bill reads, “A State may elect to prohibit Exchanges in such State from offering a community health insurance option if such State enacts a law to provide for such prohibition.” Separately, if a state opts out, they can also opt back in, if they repeal the law they used to opt out. But one of the key selling points of the opt out provision to liberals is that states wouldn’t be able to opt out until after the public option became somewhat entrenched. We’re looking for more guidance on this, but it seems as if that entrenchment period is gone.
