Public Options

Let us be clear about what a public option really means.
As the Administration originally presented the idea, it involves a choice of insurance suppliers. A consumer would have the option of using a private healthcare insurance company, as they now operate, or a government healthcare insurance company, to be established. The consuming public is mostly jaundiced to the idea, because they can see that while there may be a semblance of competition in the beginning, the government healthcare insurance company would ultimately be able to drive private insurance companies out of business. This would leave the consumer without any option. Not only would he be forced to do business with the government insurance company, because there would be none other, but he would also be forced to use a government insurance company, whether he wanted insurance or not, because that was part of the original bill proposal.
We now have from the Administration and presumably with the support of the House, a tricky maneuver in which a "Trigger Option" replaces the "Public Option". The trigger option portion of the legislation would say that there would be no government health insurance company established, unless private insurance companies are not offering appropriate insurance. Who is to say whether private insurance companies are offering appropriate insurance? Government will make that decision and since it wants complete control of healthcare, it is bound to find private companies are ineffective. The government will then set up its government insurance company, and we will be right back to the original, wherein private insurance companies will be driven out of business and government will have complete control of all healthcare.