Do you guys know what the term "public option" means? It's not exactly the kind of labeling that'll set the world on fire. If Republicans were for it, they'd call it the "Freedom Option." I'm not even kidding about that. In a year or so I bet the RNC tries to trademark the word.
If you want to watch 2 minute video, here's a nice explanation:
If you're like me and you'd rather read something, I googled around and I think this guy explains it pretty well:
[It's] a government-run health insurance plan, like Medicare, that would compete along side private insurers in a new Health Insurance Exchange that the bill would set up. The exchange is basically a place where people who aren’t on Medicare or Medicaid and don’t have insurance through their employers would go to comparison shop for a health plan. One of the plans available on the exchange would be the public option. Like all plans on the exchange, the public plan would have to meet certain minimum standards for care – minimum services that must be covered, mental health benefits parity, a fair grievance and appeals mechanism, etc.
So, the public option was dead. Killed by politicking. And somehow it's come roaring back to life. And, at the risk of going all liberal blogger on you, you have a choice: get involved or bitch about do nothing democrats over cocktails. But the thing is, if healthcare reform goes tits up, and you couldn't even be bothered to pick up a phone and make a call (and this is coming from a woman who HATES the telephone) you don't get to pin the blame on Barack Obama or Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi. We all share the blame.
So, sack up, join the Million Voices Virtual March on Feb 24th. Call your goddamn senator and when the staffer picks up the phone say "I'm one of Senator Fartypants constituents and I'm calling to strongly urge him to fix healthcare reform through reconciliation. I am in full support of the public option." Senator Fartypants staffer may go so far as to ask for your zip code, but will probably just say "I'll let him know."
This. Shit. Works. It's a lot of fun to sit around over cocktails and bitch about ineffective government. And it's a lot of fun to write blogposts about it that four people read. But all four of you can spare 3 minutes out of your busy day on Feb. 24th to make the call.
And if you don't, well, you deserve Senator Fartypants, don't you?
