The public option is out! Seriously. The option that had liberals excited about industry competition, and the moderates scared to death, has itself died. The public option will probably be dropped by the Senate in order to get the entire healthcare package passed. Without the public option, there should be no other hurdles to getting this healthcare reform bill passed.
Yesterday we posted an article on this same subject, and we detailed exactly what the public option is. It seems the overall dilemma with public option is that many fear the new competition and lower prices offered by the government will wipe out all big insurance companies who refuse to lower rates. Without big insurance companies, the only thing left will be government run healthcare.
The Senate has reached this tentative agreement on the public option by offering alternatives:
Under the deal, the government plan preferred by liberals would be replaced with a program that would create several national insurance policies administered by private companies but negotiated by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees health policies for federal workers. If private firms were unable to deliver acceptable national policies, a government plan would be created.
In addition, people as young as 55 would be permitted to buy into Medicare, the popular federal health program for retirees. And private insurance companies would face stringent new regulations, including a requirement that they spend at least 90 cents of every dollar they collect in premiums on medical services for their customers. (Washington Post)
While President Obama has spent his entire legislation pushing the public option, hoping that by creating competition in the healthcare industry the big insurance companies would have to lower rates, the Senate has literally squashed those efforts. As the Washington Post puts it, this tentative deal on the public option is “settling a dispute between moderates wary of excessive government intrusion into the private sector and liberals determined to create a strong competitor able to curb the most egregious abuses in the private insurance industry.”
So, here’s the question; where will the competition come from? Who will push these big insurance companies to lower prices, offer incentives to patients, and continue to become more effective for Americans? Perhaps it’s the market based solutions such as the No Insurance Club that will fuel the fires of competition. With these market based healthcare alternatives, people are getting the coverage that they need for a much more affordable price. Is this the answer to our healthcare problems; the rising costs and rates? Perhaps.
Now, what will the next bump in the road be? Because you know that in politics nothing is easy. Well, this tentative agreement still must be voted upon and passed by the rest of the Senate, including Senator Joe Lieberman. And, of course, there is still the abortion debate that will no doubt stall the vote as well.
The abortion battle has only just begun, now that the public option battle has ended. However, we will leave this abortion discussion for another day.
For more information on how this market based healthcare alternative can help you and your family, visit http://www.noinsuranceclub.com.
