“New Public Option” Not a Public Option

[preventivePhD]

8. Advantages of a True Public Option not the The Plan

A true public option leaves the cost containment strategies of health insurance companies that wreak havok on quality of care. That is the true value of the public option. Harpers ranks medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the U.S based on old data I suspect. However, it's probably at least the 2nd if not the 1st leading cause of death and only a fraction of that is the result of deaths due to lack of health insurance.

Another big advantage of the public option is cost containment which is achieved by reducing insurance company paperwork that accounts for about 30 cents on the dollar in US health care.

Obviously, the Federal plan doesn't have these characteristics so in this case the FireDogLake article has a point.