As soon as recess started, things really started to get interesting. Soon Congress will have to vote on this universal health care idea that has been in the air for years, even during the time of the Clinton administration.

On Sunday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said that public health option is not necessary for the current health care reform bill.

The funny thing is, she’s right. A public option is not needed in this bill, and by trimming it, the bill may pass with flying colors through both houses. It is important that by the end of this administration there is some kind of public option, but for the sake of moving things along, it would be best to leave it out of this bill and try to put it in a separate bill on its own.
First off, the public option is the government-run health care system. For instance, instead of buying your medical coverage or insurance from a private contractor, such as Blue Cross, you would buy it through the government. What this does is give people the option of getting more affordable health insurance, which presumably would not deny as many claims. The public option would become competition for insurance companies, which would lower prices and improve customer service. The health care bill without the public option still helps the poor, the sick, and puts limits on how much private insurance companies can charge.

As of right now, the public option will most likely be the demise of this health care reform bill. Even without it, President Barack Obama faces challenges from his own party as well as the Republican backlash. Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has said that she will not vote for any bill that does not include a public option, while in reality, she knows, just as well as Obama, that without compromise this bill will not go through and Democrats will have another fiasco on their hands like they did back in 1993, when current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former First Lady was spearheading the plan. A public option is important for this country, but in reality, it isn’t worth jeopardizing the well-being of millions of Americans for a small part of an already ingenious bill, which will probably go down as the single greatest piece of liberal legislation in the past 70 years. Without the public option the bill stands to give more Medicaid to the near-poor, and ultimately fix the problems with insurance companies. It also competes with insurance companies, while a bill without the public option would only seek to overrule insurance companies.

This is a great compromise for the conservatives in Congress because it gives them an opportunity to stop complaining about how universal health care is socialist, because without the public option it becomes an issue of anti-trust, fraud and malpractice.

That being said, it is important that we eventually get a public option passed. The middle class gets the short end of the stick after making the most sacrifices. The middle class is most often left with paying for the Medicaid that the poor cannot afford, and have insurance plans far inferior to Preferred Provider Organization’s that the rich can afford.

With the introduction of a public option later on, once the insurance companies have been dealt with, it allows the middle class to have a voice in health care and allows the majority of Americans to have proper health benefits. Now, with a public option the government would act as insurance providers, meaning that they would then see claims through. So long as the government charges less and provides more, insurance companies will have no choice but to change their policies.

The health care reform bill is good for Americans. It provides the poor and the middle class with options, and keeps the rich happy becauase the only ding they receive is a heightened bill come tax season, and seeing as they will most likely evade their taxes it should pose no problem. This can happen soon, but we need to do it in a smart way that brings the conservatives on board as well.

8212;Ammar Moheize is a journalism junior.

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