June 25, 2009

Why we need a real public health care plan option (Part II)

Posted at 3:05 PM by Adam Searing

President Obama – Public health plan option a tool to “discipline” private insurance companies.

“Health Care Showdown,” by Paul Krugman, Nobel prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist:

“For the record, neither regional health cooperatives nor state-level public plans, both of which have been proposed as alternatives [to the public option], would have the financial stability and bargaining power needed to bring down health care costs.”

“Un-Cooperative: The Trouble with Conrad’s Compromise,” by Jacob Hacker, author of Health Care for America and U.C. Berkeley political scientist:

“[The co-op plan is]…not going to have the ability to be a cost-control backstop, much less a benchmark for private plans, because they are not going to have the reach or authority to implement innovative delivery and payment reforms.”

“Why We Need a Public Health-Care Plan,” by Robert B. Reich, former secretary of labor and professor at the University of California:

“…cooperatives would lack the scale and authority to negotiate lower rates with drug companies and other providers, collect wide data on outcomes, or effect major change in the system.”

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Why we need a real public health care plan option (Part II) 25 Jun 2009 3:53 pm

[...] See original here: Why we need a real public health care plan option (Part II) [...]

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