Pull Up A Chair

Let's have a little conversation about this private health insurance companies' "we can't compete with a public health insurance plan" argument.

Huh?

You insure 170 million people. You have name brand recognition. You've been in the business of health insurance for decades. And yet somehow, a brand new public health insurance option is going to run you out of business?

Really?

Oh, and at the same time, you argue the government can't run anything and shouldn't have a role in health care coverage or reform. A contradiction President Obama also pointed out in his press conference today:

Why would it drive private insurers out of business? If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care, if they tell us that they're offering a good deal, then why is it that the government -- which they say can't run anything -- suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That's not logical.

(...)

So there are going to be some I think legitimate debates to be had about how this [public] plan takes shape. But just conceptually, the notion that all these insurance companies who say they're giving consumers the best possible deal, that they can't compete against a public plan as one option, with consumers making the decision what's the best deal. That defies logic, which is why I think you've seen in the polling data overwhelming support for a public plan.

A close second in the race for dumbest argument is the call for a "level playing field." The insurance companies have been in control with no competition and little regulation forever. How level's that field?

Nothing about health insurance companies as they are now is fair. It's the whole premise of our video:



and the corresponding website. It's why we need reform in the first place.