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PUBLIC OPTION IN HEALTH CARE REFORM

Facts - not hype - from reputable sources

WHAT IS THE PUBLIC OPTION?

The public option is a non-profit, government health insurance program akin to Medicare, which would be open to anyone. Read a more in-depth description at wikipedia.



WOULDN’T THIS PUT EXISTING PROFIT-MAKING HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES OUT OF BUSINESS?

According to Sen. Jay Rockefeller, “Not a chance.” He estimates that  the total number of Americans who would use it is five percent, specifically those who the current health insurance companies don’t want because of pre-existing conditions, lack of employment, etc.


In a similar argument, the banking industry sued credit unions for years because, as non profit financial cooperatives, credit unions are tax exempt. This means they could use the non taxed funds to better compete with banks by offering higher interest on savings or subsidizing lower interest on consumer loans. The reality is that banks compete very nicely; check your daily paper or websites such as bankrate.com/.


And who helped pass the legislation protecting credit unions from these lawsuits, Newt Gingrich!



WOULD I BE FORCED TO JOIN THE PUBLIC OPTION?

No! If you are happy with your existing health coverage, nothing changes. If you have no coverage, you would be required to join the public option vs using the ER at a local hospital which is what most uninsured do now for non-emergencies. That is one reason the system is going bankrupt. 

 

DO DOCTORS LIKE THE PUBLIC OPTION?

Yes - in overwhelming amounts according to a recent survey, doctors support a mixture of both public and private health insurance.



WOULDN’T THE PUBLIC OPTION PUT GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS IN CHARGE OF MY HEALTH CARE DECISIONS?

  1. 1.That is a misunderstanding promoted by certain groups who do not want a public option. President Obama has stated repeatedly that the public option leaves medical decisions in the hands of the doctor.

  2. 2.Right now, private insurance companies have their own bureaucrats making these approval decisions. They can turn you down without your even knowing who they are. In the blog for this website, you will read how it took an entire week just to finally get the correct address where to appeal their refusal to continue a chemotherapy treatment!

  3. 3.And, they insisted I had to  send a letter by mail which turned out to be untrue. After two weeks, I threatened a lawsuit and they finally gave me a fax number and a customer service manager’s private phone number. By then I had missed my next chemotherapy session, still trying just to get the appeal to the right department!

  4. 4.Could a government bureaucrat be any worse?



WOULD THE PUBLIC OPTION REALLY SAVE MONEY?

That is the plan but experts can’t seem to agree if it really will. The choice seems to be either don’t try or try it and make adjustments down the road. We know that it is much less costly to treat illnesses such as cancer if they are caught early. There are also two major perspectives:


  1. Since the 1930s when President Roosevelt created social security, the quality of medical care for extending both the quality of life and quantity of years lived has leaped beyond anyone’s expectation at the time. The financial systems put in place were not designed therefore to sustain the current expectations for health care coverage.


  1. New advances in medicine are coming, literally cures at the genetic level, that could very well lower health care costs.



  2. Also see: Bill O'Reilly Backs Public Option

  3. Why the public option matters, an op-ed piece in The New York Times by Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist

 

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