Why do moderate dems claim a public option health plan could coexist with private plans?

How delusional must one be to actually think a public plan that doesn't have to make a profit or even break even doesn't have an enormous advantage over private insurance?

Yet we will have biden arguing this summer and fall that "nobody will lose their plan" with his public option policy agenda.


There's a reason even with their 60 seats in 2009, dems could not get it through. It would 100% lead to a loss of private plans for americans.

The process of a public option plan destroying private insurance would be straightforward.

1) A public option is passed and begins being offered to americans. Because it would pay medicare rates to providers, it could offer lower premiums to potential buyers. To ensure providers will accept these plans, government regulators would force anyone who accepts medicare to accept this public option.

2) Providers seeing reduced payments as people switch to the public plan would demand higher payment from private health plans to make up for the reduced reimbursements from the public plan. Private insurance plans would then have to raise premiums to pay for the higher payments.

3) as private premiums rise, more and more people switch to the public plan, leading to even higher prices for the private plans. Eventually, private insurance would simply stop existing as demand shrivels. End result: the public option becomes the only plan out there. Private insurance would be gone.


stop trying to lie to moderate upper income suburban voters by telling them their private plan wouldn't be affected. Not a single policy maker believes that.