By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

As promised, Harry Reid promoted a public option insurance plan Monday afternoon, and quickly got an atta-boy from President Barack Obama.

The announcement was a small but significant step toward potentially providing Americans with a health insurance option rather than relying on the greedy private insurers.

The Senate majority leader said his idea is to offer a public option that would allow states to opt out.

"I think it's the fairest way to go," Reid said.

After Reid's announcement, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs praised the progress.

"While much work remains, the president is pleased that at the progress that Congress has made. He's also pleased that the Senate has decided to include a public option for health coverage, in this case with an allowance for states to opt out. As he said to Congress and the nation in September, he supports the public option because it has the potential to play an essential role in holding insurance companies accountable through choice and competition."

Now Reid and his idea will run straight into the buzz saw of opposition from private health insurers, the ones who have been jacking up rates consistently on millions of Americans for many years.

The public option must remain on the table to provide some competition for those private insurers.