Public Option Needed To Reduce Costs

Any health care reform plan that doesn’t include some type of public option will probably not hold down medical costs for most Americans.

The plan that was recently passed by a U.S. Senate committee would increase the number of Americans insured, a boondoggle to the insurance industry, but it wouldn’t give the federal government the clout to negotiate medical costs. This might even result in higher premiums and co-payments.

President Barack Obama has argued publicly for a public option in which Americans could keep their existing insurance policies or buy it from the government. The idea is the government-run program would have less overhead than insurance companies and operate as a nonprofit. It could also use its size to bargain for lower prices. This would keep the insurance companies “honest,” according to Obama.

So is the public option dead? Many pundits think so. The right-wing and the for-profit medical industry has had an impact with its over-exaggerated cries of “socialized medicine” when it comes to the public option.

According to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich even the White House has turned against the public option:

Big Pharma and big insurance hate the public insurance option even more than they hate big Medicare discounts. And although the President has sounded as if he would welcome it, political operatives in the White House have quietly reassured the industries that it won't be included in the final bill. At most, the bill would allow the formation of non-profit "cooperatives" that wouldn't have the scale or authority to squeeze the profits of private industry, or a "trigger" that would allow states to form public insurance options eventually if certain goals for cost savings and coverage weren't met.

It’s a good idea to get more people insured, but until something happens to deal with rising medical costs, those with health insurance will be stuck with rising premiums and less coverage, and most people will still be one major illness away from financial disaster. The public option and the creation of more competition in the insurance industry would drive down costs. Reich, in the above video, makes a good point about simplifying and clarifying the argument so more Americans can get behind the idea. A recent poll shows a majority of Americans support some type of public option, but the numbers could increase if more media staffers would follow Reich's lead and clarify the issue rather than spotlight the right-wing's unproven claims about socialized medicine.