Poll: Would you choose the public option if it becomes available?

[many a good man]

Obama is now behind a public option for health care reform. Let's assume Congress passes the public option and mandates insurance coverage under penalty of law. Would you take the public option?

Note: great discussion in LBN if you still have questions: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3906046

[John Q. Citizen]

1. What does it cover and how much is it? Would you choose the surprise I have in a box for dinner?

[Nite Owl]

2. Actually I'd like to know just what they

won't be covering in clear language. It's hard to know just exactly what is missing if you haven't had the unfortunate experience of being familiar with a disease.

[many a good man]

3. At this point we'd have to speculate

I'd assume coverage will be close to what is provided by Medicare at a cost competitive with private plans, with some level of subsidy for poor folks.

It can't realize all the cost savings inherent in a true single payer system because it can't exclude like private plans can, and we still have all the overhead due to multiple payers.

Cost savings will only come with a single risk pool and uniform billing methods, like in France (or in a true single payer system).

[John Q. Citizen]

6. Yep. People say that the French model is good, but it's still job based which

isn't good.

This is what i have a hard time understanding in terms of the politics of reform; It's been said ad nauseum that it's impossible to pass a single payer system because the insurance industry is too strong, that the Senate (let alone the house) won't pass one because their insurance company masters won't let them. Then but why would the insurance companies let them pass a public pool that would lead eventually to single payer? That's just stupid. And the insurance companies aren't that stupid.

It's the people who believe any public pool passed will eventually lead to a single payer pool who are that stupid, obviously.

To me it makes far more sense to demand what we want and not get it, than to demand what we don't want and get it.

[many a good man]

7. Single risk pool is very important

I'm not sure what you mean by "public pool." Both single payer and the French model put everyone in a single risk pool. No cutting corners by exclusion for prior conditions, age, etc. That is a HUGE change from our current system.

The only way private insurers would accept a single risk pool is if the ONLY alternative is single payer. Single payer would put them out of business entirely (unless "gap" or "premium" policies are permitted).

We could regulate private insurers like we once regulated public utilities. We can guarantee them a small profit in return for the public service they provide. They could also profit off gap policies, if We The People decide to allow it.

It all comes down to corporate power versus people power. That one's gonna be a long hard fight. People need help now.

[John Q. Citizen]

11. A public pool is a pool mangeed by the public instead of by a private company.

Medicare is a public pool. But it's not single payer.

Medicare is good for private insurers because it takes the highest risk people and allows private insurers to cherry pick the lowest risk population.

A single risk pool is single payer.

Multiple risk pools (like we now have and would have under the Obama plan) isn't much reform. The proponents claim that if we regulated private insurance companies (but also forced everyone to purchase insurance either from a private or public source) and required them to do community rating (same price for everyone for the same coverage) that the publicly managed pool would eventually out compete the private pools and we would be at single payer.

The fallacy with that is if the private companies won't allow single payer, they also won't allow a system that will eventually lead to single payer.

We will end up with tax payer subsidized private insurance for the better off and a new public pool bureaucracy for the lesser off. It won't have any cost containment so we will be right where we are, but private insurance companies will be richer.

[Coyote_Bandit]

4. Ummmm......

Unless the public option is cheaper than my $10,000 annual deductible plus a co-pay plan then the answer is NO.

Of course, I expect that with a public option my insurer will look with even greater scrutiny for an excuse to cancel what little coverage I do have. If they do then the public option will be too expensive for me.

Public option health coverage is a cop out. IMHO it is bieng proposed to divide and conquer. And make single payer an even less viable option to be considered.

[Mike 03]

5. I don't know. I am not employed, but self-reliant, but I do not have

health insurance and need it.

No pre-existing condition. Basically healthy, no bad habits.

[TahitiNut]

8. I already have. It's called Medicare.

:shrug:

[armyowalgreens]

9. This topic is waaay to dynamic to be restrained to a poll.

Is the public option going to have the same ridiculous restrictions to pre-existing conditions? Will it deny access to "experimental procedures"? How much is it going to cost?

I need to know details of the scenario before I restrict myself to a poll question.

[Brigid]

10. I have a pre-existing condition.

I had a bypass almost a year and a half ago. I am doing fine, but there is no way a private insurance company is going to insure me, I can promise you that.