Even if a so-called public option is included in a health care bill that gets through Congress, the public option may not be coming to Illinois.
All but one of the Republican candidates for governor said in a debate Thursday night that they would opt out of a public option if they were in the governor's mansion.
The public option being debated in Washington may include an opt-out provision for states to make it more palatable to conservative Democrats. Such a provision - or threats from governors who say they would challenge a public option in court if there is no opt-out provision - spreads some of the political impact to state races.
In other words, campaigns for governor like the one in Illinois could become the real referendums on ObamaCare.
"I will be damned if I'm going to let a socialistic Washington shove a new mandate down the down the taxpayers throats," state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) said.
(Last year Dillard appeared in an Obama campaign commercial that cited his health care work as an achievement)
Only former two-term state attorney general Jim Ryan said he was undecided on the opt-out provision, according to the Daily Herald.
Politics
If the Obama plan passes and includes a public option, then, the Illinois campaign for governor could determine whether the plan actually comes to Illinois.
Steve Rhodes is the proprietor of The Beachwood Reporter, a Chicago-centric news and culture review.
