re: #724 doppelganglander

The public option would undercut private insurers since it doesn’t need to make a profit or even break even. The Dems won’t even consider free market solutions or tax breaks. I believe the entire point of the public option is to drive private insurers out of business and force everyone to rely on a version of Medicare. Except Congress, of course; they get the Cadillac plan.

Chuckie Schumkie on Meet the Depressed.

And the public option we’ve proposed is not one of these big government control things. The government sets it up. It has a different model. It doesn’t have to make a profit or merchandise as much, so its costs are probably 20 percent lower. But then, on a level playing field, it competes with private insurance. And one thing I want to underscore, David, is it not a mandate, it’s an option. If you like your, your present insurance, whether you’re an employer or an individual, you keep it and it doesn’t change.