public option health plan
Despite Resistance, We Are Getting Closer to a Public Option Health Plan
July 14, 2016
Politicians at all levels are too afraid to upend a health care system that does not work for all because of the impact that change will have on some. The fact that that "some" consists of about 16 million health care related jobs and 18% of the U.S. economy is reason to think before we act. But with nearly a century to think about and work out a better health care policy, it’s clear that there’s never been a real strategy for revolutionary change. Instead, politicians focus on incremental health care policy changes, like the President’s latest proposal for a limited public health plan option.
On Monday, July 11, 2016, President Obama became the first sitting U.S. President to write an article for publication in a scholarly or academic journal. Published by the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the article titled, "United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps," recounts the process of health care reform from 2008 to the present. The article outlines the many legislative actions the President and his administration took to:
- expand health insurance coverage
- provide financial support to health insurance buyers
- improve health care technology and research and
- reform health care payment models
If health insurers merge as planned or drop out of the exchanges leaving little or no health plan options to choose from, something has to fill the gap. The only thing that can is a public option. Those who think that reducing the number of health plan options on the exchanges is a way to undo Obamacare are being naïve. People still want and need health insurance, not to mention that they are required to have it. I don’t see any other option but to offer a public health plan where few or no health plan options exist. Continue Reading...
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Denise Perkins
