Bill Nelson apparently had a few things to say about health care while flying down on Air Force One to Florida with the President for a night of fundraising. Responding to reports that Harry Reid will, moments from now, include the public option “opt-out” compromise in the Senate bill, Nelson said:

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) told reporters Monday that he thinks it will be hard for Reid to get 60 votes for a public option plan in which states can opt out, the Associated Press reports. At least four key senators seem opposed, Nelson said while traveling with President Obama on Air Force One to Florida.

If an opt-out plan passes, he reportedly said, he hopes states would not be able to exercise the opt-out for at least two years. Otherwise, Nelson said, the powerful insurance lobby “will convince state legislatures to opt out at the very beginning,” before a public option plan has had a chance to prove its worth.

I would guess that the four Senators Nelson is talking about are similar to the ones I targeted – Blanche Lincoln, Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, and perhaps Mary Landrieu. There will be tremendous pressure on these Senators to support cloture, if not the final bill.

As for the timing of the opt-out, Nelson brings up an important point. Insurance companies are a powerful force among state legislatures, and would surely convince at least some of them to kill the public option in particular states. This would be among the key questions yet to be revealed about the mechanics of the opt out. Harry Reid will hopefully answer some of these questions in a few minutes.