It’s Back: Public Option Again Rears It’s Ugly Head

I predicted this meant that the idea of a Government Run Public Option would soon be rearing it’s ugly head in Congress.

Well in a way, I was right.

According to an Article in World Net Daily there is a written proposal in Congress, backed by 128 House Democrats, called the “Public Option Act”.

Democrat Representatives Lynn Woolsey, Peter Stark and Jan Schakowsky have joined forced to create this Socialist Proposal that says:

“For years beginning with 2014, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (in this subtitle referred to as the ‘Secretary’) shall provide for the offering through Exchanges established under this title of a health benefits plan (in this Act referred to as the ‘public health insurance option’) that ensures choice, competition, and stability of affordable, high-quality coverage throughout the United States in accordance with this section. In designing the option, the Secretary’s primary responsibility is to create a low-cost plan without compromising quality or access to care.”

According to the CBO Directors Blog, the plan will allow:

“the Department of Health and Human Services to establish and administer a public health insurance plan and would charge premiums to fully cover its costs for benefit payments and administrative expenses. The plan’s payment rates for physicians and other practitioners would be based on Medicare’s current rates but would not be subject to the future reductions required by Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula; instead, those rates would initially increase by 5 percent and then would rise annually to reflect estimated increases in physicians’ costs. The plan would pay hospitals and other providers the same amounts that would be paid under Medicare, on average, and would establish payment rates for prescription drugs through negotiation. Health care providers would not be required to participate in the public plan in order to participate in Medicare.”

Naturally the CBO also explains that the Premiums for the Public Option will be 5 to 7 % lower, on average, than Private Insurance in the Exchange.

Why?

Ironically enough, one reason is because of “Rationing” Health Care:

“ Those differences in premiums would reflect the net impact of differences in the factors that affect all health insurance premiums, including the rates paid to providers, administrative costs, THE DEGREE OF BENEFIT MANAGMENT APPLIED TO CONTROL SPENDING, and the characteristics of the enrollees.”

But the supporters of the Bill don’t want you to pay any attention to that.

They would rather you believe that this “Public Option Act” is going to reduce the Government’s deficit by $68 Billion Dollars in 10 years.

If you buy into that….

Then I’m Willing to bet you have a Bumper sticker that says “Hope and Change” …