No Runny Eggs

Reps. Paul Ryan (R-WI, and my Congressman) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) and Sens. Dr. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Richard Burr (R-NC) unveiled the Patients Choice Act earlier today. As part of the publicity push, they wrote an op-ed piece carried by Real Clear Politics. From the beginning of that:

While President Obama may believe the stars are aligned for major health reform this year it is far from certain whether Congress will pass a bill that works. The groups that are most likely to unravel this effort are not the president’s opponents, but his allies. Nothing will rally ordinary Americans against the president’s plan more than his allies arguing too forcefully for a system run by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington – what we call the “public option” in the Obama plan.

It should come as no surprise that this ideologically rigid position is coming under fire. As the Washington Post recently wrote, “the fixation on a public plan is bizarre and counterproductive … It is entirely possible to imagine effective health-care reform – changes that would expand coverage and help control costs – without a public option.”

I’m still sifting through the long summary and the Q&A that Rep. Ryan’s office sent over, so I will be updating this post this afternoon. In the interim, you may as well enjoy them, as well as the short 2-page summary. I wish I could offer you the text, but the Library of Congress’ THOMAS system doesn’t have it up yet.

PCA Q&A
PCA long summary
PCA short summary

My immediate reaction is that this is a far sight better than what the Democrats have been cooking since 1993.