Health Care: It's Time

On the day the House presented its version of health care reform with a "public option" I see Lisa at Organized Chaos has somewhat responded to our quaint discussion from a few days ago about this very issue.

On competition in health care:

I don’t oppose competition. I oppose a competition in which the deck is stacked in favor of the government’s entry. I also dispute the notion that the post office is a brilliant example of how government competition could improve the service or quality of health care. UPS and FedEx pushed the USPS to improve its services, not the other way around. And BTW, the USPS is still inferior to both.

I’m still confused as to how people who label themselves as supporting capitalism/competition could be against increased competition for health insurance providers because government would be involved.

The only way the deck would be stacked in favor of the government is if private providers can’t compete, and if they can’t compete capitalism tells us they will fall. Nor did I say the postal service was a brilliant example of how government competition could improve health care. I said the postal service was an excellent example of a government service not shutting down private business. If UPS and FedEx pushed the USPS to improve, isn’t that still competition? If private industry forces the government to do better than I’m all for it. And likewise, if public industry forces private industry to shape up then it’s still a good thing. It’s called competition.

All this goes without mentioning that people will not have to leave their current providers. Myself, for instance, will stay with my current provider and so will millions of others. The only way people will switch providers is if the government is able to offer better services for less money. Those who don’t have insurance coverage through their employers will have the option of being covered by the “public option,” which is great news for the + 40 million people who don’t currently have health coverage. Republicans in Congress currently enjoy this very system of health coverage. If they are so against it, they should pen a bill that would strip them of their socialist medicine as well. They won't do that as we all know, so they really should be forced to explain how they can support public coverage for them but no one else.