An Option By Any Other Name
Get ready to hear about the new "competitive option," which is no different than the public option
AP
Democrats like Speaker Pelosi can now say that their bill will save the country dollars.
Unless the plan is called, "the free option," we're not sure anyone really cares what politicians name the plan that is supposed to solve the healthcare crisis in America.
But that didn't stop Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from trying to convince seniors in Broward that playing the name game is all it will take to get a plan approved.
Instead of "public option," why not try "consumer option" or "competitive option?"
"You'll hear everyone say, 'There's got to be a better name for this,"' Pelosi said. "When people think of the public option, public is being misrepresented, that this is being paid for with their public dollars."
At least those terms are better than the "die quickly option" that some Democrats have been tossing around lately. We must admit that has a certain ring to it.
Pelosi said that was a misconception and that any taxpayer money used to start up the public option would be repaid. She also said such an option would ultimately drive down government health care costs.
The speaker said the "competitive option" idea emerged during her closed-door roundtable at the Sunrise Senior Center with advocates of seniors and others who work with older populations.
Wasserman Schultz suggested the term might be here to stay.
"I think she's going to go up and test-drive it when she goes back to Washington," Wasserman Schultz said. "It might stick."
As for having the votes to pass such a measure, both women said a public option would survive. They wouldn't get into numbers of congressional supporters, but said it was simply a matter of picking which type of public option to pursue.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 6 Miami
