The House healthcare bill unveiled this morning does not force a public option plan to use Medicare rates to compensate providers, in what is seen as a big win for moderates, and in my view a big win for Washington state. This from a Yahoo! story:

Liberals generally wanted the government to dictate the rates to be paid to doctors, hospitals and other health care providers, with the fee levels linked to Medicare.

Moderates, fearing the impact on their local hospitals, held out for negotiated rates between the government and private insurers — and won.

As I said in an anticipatory post last night, I think this is a big win for Washington state as it means a public option might actually exist and work in this market. While this would not mean as fundamental a shift in the insurance marketplace here as it would in places like Alabama (where 92% of the insurance market is dominated by one plan), it would still mean a significant shift in the economics of insurance here.

Again, in my view, I think this is a big win for Washington state. Let’s see what happens when it comes to the floor.