bobbyw24
11-22-2009, 07:35 AM
Republican governors: 'Opt out' unworkable
Ralph Z. Hallow
AUSTIN, Texas | Even with the "opt-out" option, Republican governors who gathered here last week weren't buying in to President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health care system.
While some GOP governors embraced Mr. Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus program earlier this year, the attendees at the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association were standing unanimously with their congressional counterparts against the Democratic health care reform bills being considered in Congress.
A compromise devised by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, to let states "opt out" of offering the government-financed "public" insurance option - among the most controversial parts of the overhaul plan - played to negative reviews here. Republican governors said the measure would put them in a political and policy bind.
"If they enacted the opt-out provision, but said you still have to pay the taxes on the public plan, it would be very difficult for any state to opt out of the plan," South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds said in an interview.
"Unfortunately, if you as a state opt out, you will be taking away the ability of the folks in your state to get the benefits of the public plan, but they would still be paying the subsidy of the public plan," he added.
The House-passed version of health care reform - which received only one Republican vote - calls for a public insurance option and does not let individual states opt out. Mr. Reid's idea, criticized by some on the party's liberal wing, was designed in part to ease concerns of centrist Democrats in the Senate about the public option.
"Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the public option works well for them and will have the ability
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/22/republican-governors-opt-out-unworkable/
Ralph Z. Hallow
AUSTIN, Texas | Even with the "opt-out" option, Republican governors who gathered here last week weren't buying in to President Obama's plan to overhaul the nation's health care system.
While some GOP governors embraced Mr. Obama's $787 billion economic stimulus program earlier this year, the attendees at the annual meeting of the Republican Governors Association were standing unanimously with their congressional counterparts against the Democratic health care reform bills being considered in Congress.
A compromise devised by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, to let states "opt out" of offering the government-financed "public" insurance option - among the most controversial parts of the overhaul plan - played to negative reviews here. Republican governors said the measure would put them in a political and policy bind.
"If they enacted the opt-out provision, but said you still have to pay the taxes on the public plan, it would be very difficult for any state to opt out of the plan," South Dakota Gov. Michael Rounds said in an interview.
"Unfortunately, if you as a state opt out, you will be taking away the ability of the folks in your state to get the benefits of the public plan, but they would still be paying the subsidy of the public plan," he added.
The House-passed version of health care reform - which received only one Republican vote - calls for a public insurance option and does not let individual states opt out. Mr. Reid's idea, criticized by some on the party's liberal wing, was designed in part to ease concerns of centrist Democrats in the Senate about the public option.
"Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the public option works well for them and will have the ability
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/22/republican-governors-opt-out-unworkable/