Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced last week that the version of the much-debated health care reform bill that he will bring to the Senate floor – which will be a fusion of two competing Senate committee bills – will include a public option. Universal health care it is not, but the Senate bill and its counterpart in the House of Representatives are steps in the right direction.

The opt-out public option in Reid’s version of the bill would give each state the opportunity to choose whether or not to provide its citizens government-funded health care, which would compete with that which private insurance companies provide within the state. A more universally imposed public option is also currently a part of the House’s version of the reform bill. As both chambers of Congress move toward a public option, it seems government-funded health care is likely to make it into the final draft.

Any health care bill without a public option is not the right kind of reform. Government-funded health care will provide competition to private insurance companies, ensuring that Americans are given a fair deal, a good product and a better price.

Since the Senate bill would allow states to opt out of the public option, this compromise is not the ideal solution for uninsured Americans; given Congress’ reluctance to pass health care reform legislation at all, however, this is the best outcome we can expect. Giving states the choice of whether to provide government-funded health care or not will help this bill to pass. The success or failure of public insurance programs in the states that opt in could show the nation once and for all whether or not universal health care can work in the United States. We hope that this initial step of testing the public option in the states will inspire more universal legislation so that all Americans can be insured.

As the congressional town-hall meetings this summer demonstrated, the current political climate is volatile. Health care reform requires a politically sensible approach in order to facilitate a viable consensus. But reform can’t wait; we must do now what we can for those who lack health insurance.

Some have argued against the public option by saying that private health care companies will not be able to compete with the government plan. Many opponents are concerned about the fate of the free market – if the government is able to provide health insurance, maybe even at lower costs, how will private industry keep up?

But they may not have to. The Congressional Budget Office has released estimates that predict public option premiums will be comparable to current private plan premiums. Why would someone who already has an affordable health care plan through his or her employer switch to the government-funded plan? The public option will not be comprehensive: It will cover everything that any representative’s or senator’s plan covers, but not certain incidentals and cosmetic procedures that some might desire.

In addition, the public option will not be available to everyone in the immediate future. Only those who cannot get insurance now, those employed by small businesses and those who currently pay 12.5 percent or more of their income in medical bills will be eligible.

In smaller markets in the United States, a government plan would be the only competition to a private company; it would break up monopolies in those areas and, in time, force companies to improve their products and their prices. Moreover, no country in the world that has a universal health care system relies solely upon the free market, and they all have managed to keep costs down. In 2007, Washington Post staff reporter Ezra Klein wrote that Canada, France, the United Kingdom and Germany all provide insurance for their entire populations for less than the U.S. government pays now. And according to the World Health Organization, the only U.N. member state that spends a greater proportion of its gross domestic income on health care is East Timor.

It is clear that something is wrong with our health care system. Something needs to be done, and the opt-out public option is the first step forward.

*To send a letter to the editor on a recent campus issue or Hoya story or a viewpoint on any topic, contact [opinionthehoya.com](opinionthehoya.com). Letters should not exceed 300 words, and viewpoints should be between 600 to 800 words.*

“