re: #624 engineer dog

it was the most difficult thing to pass in the proposed bill, so it was dropped. now the next congress will most likely be more republican. so chances of passing a public option, at least for the foreseeable future, would seem to be nil

but, if there were a public health insurance company, and it was cheaper than the private companies so that people would move to it massively as you predict

where is the downside?

It depends on why it is cheaper. If it is cheaper because of subsidies, then it isn’t really less expensive, just cheaper. Saves nothing.

If it is cheaper because of price fixing by the government, then that will result in market distortions because artificially lowering prices drives up demand while suppressing supply. If it is cheaper because it is non-profit, well my HMO is a non profit and that doesn’t make a lick of difference. It’s good coverage, but cheaper? No, it’s about in the middle of the pack.