The U. S. health care public option will give millions of American who are either uninsured or under-insured the chance for medical insurance coverage.

As of this writing, the health care public option will give the individual states the chance to opt out if desired.

Many politicians, however, question just how many of the states will take this option. The reason for the public option portion of the U. S. health care bill is to provide competition among and with the large insurance companies who have so little competition already in states like California.

Right now the Congress is putting a $900 billion price tag on the health care bill over 10 years. Another part of the public option that may become an industry standard is the issue of patients with pre-existing conditions.

The health care public option will not ban patients with any sort of pre-existing condition. In addition, the overall bill itself may ban insurance companies across the board from denying patients with pre-existing patients coverage or terminating their contracts altogether.

Some politicians wanted to tie the health care public option to tort reform, but this likely will not happen. Tort reform may still be an issue with the Congress but will be taken up at a different time and be a standing bill itself rather than a rider on another bill.

There have been a few different names given to the health care public option in order for the concept to be more digestible for those who oppose the bill. Some on Capitol Hill want to call the health care public option, the "consumer option" while others want to call it the "competitive option."

Another important part of the overall bill is the stripping of the provision that protects insurance companies under anti-trust laws. This provision has also been talked about in regard to keeping competition at bay for the insurance companies.