As Democrats debated for health care reform they eventually dropped the idea of the public health insurance option along the way. Now they are reviving that idea to remind Americans about the controversial alternative.
Recently Representative Lynn Woolsey has announced that she has 128 House Democrats who would like to reconsider the idea of having a public health option. Their main argument is that the public health option would save the government $68 billion from 2014 to 2020 according to The Los Angeles Times.
The Democrats plan for a public option would be included in the government exchanges in 2014. Allowing people who did not have group health insurance to get coverage from the government.
So how would the government save money on offering health insurance?
Support for the public option contends that the plan would save money with low administration costs and by paying health care providers less than commercial insurance plans.
Many health care experts argue that lower payment rates from the government result in higher rates for people with private health insurance plans.
Representative Raul Grijalva, D-Arizona said, “By reintroducing it (the public option), we make sure that people don"t forget this is a viable option. I think as the health bill is implemented, more and more people are going to come to the realization that cost containment and competition aren"t as robust as they should be, because of the absence of the public option.”
The key there is that cost containment isn"t as robust as it should be. Without cost containment across the health care industry, health insurance costs are still going to be expensive — no matter who provides them.