Why is a public private health care system so hard to imagine?
July 1 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama stepped up his drive to overhaul the health-care system, saying that the U.S. economy has been “weakened by the crushing cost” of care and the economy will “just sputter along” without changes. Obama also urged Americans to “get informed” about the complexities of the health-care debate to inoculate themselves against “scare tactics” of those who oppose his efforts. The president targeted the health-insurance industry, which has raised questions about his goal of creating a government-run insurance plan as an alternative to private companies. “So they’ll tell you that we’re trying to take over health care,” Obama said during a town-hall meeting at Northern Virginia Community College in the Washington suburb of Annandale, his second such event in eight days. “I don’t want to take over health care. Don’t let people scare you out of reforming a system that we know is not working.” Karen Ignagni, president and chief executive officer of America’
A public insurance plan will help heal a broken health care system By Michael Bloomberg Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 4:00 AM The principles that President Obama has outlined for national health care reform are driven by a goal that I share: universal access to affordable health care. Last week, I went to Washington to speak with members of Congress about an idea that can help make that goal a reality: a public health insurance option. Today, most Americans get their health coverage from private insurers. A public health insurance option would create a competitor to private insurers that could potentially drive down costs across the board. I support the concept of a public plan, because if it’s done right, it means introducing exactly the kind of competition our system needs. Choice and competition are almost always in the best interests of our economy. When I started a small business 28 years ago, there were other companies that offered financial information to banks and businesses. But we
