There has been much talk and support on the Left for the concept of a “public option” in health care. The rationale behind this, according to the federal government, is that there is not a sufficient “free market” for health insurance in some parts of our country.
Accordingly, they have deemed it their job to get consumers the best coverage at the best price, by competing with a public option, seemingly on equal footing with private insurers.
The promulgation of the Public Option was deceitful–there was never going to be an equal footing, as the Government would severely limit the range of allowable insurance and then use its financial and political muscle to gain customers, as acknowleged by Senator Schumer among others. Nevertheless, it had so much support that it was included in the health care bill passed by the House of Representatives.
My question is this: If this “public option” was viewed as a necessity in terms of competition and “free market”, why should there not be a “private option” in every area that Government – federal, state, local – has staked out an unnecessary monopoly for itself?
Other than National Defense and the Criminal Court Systems, there appears to be no reason – other than creation of a power base to enable the bloated government salaries that we see today – that the private sector should not be given an opportunity to compete on a level playing field.
There should be a Private Option in virtually every area of public service.