May 15, 2011
During the debate over the health care bill, tens of thousands of health care activists pushed for either a universal Medicare-type system or having the option of buying into a Medicare-type public plan included in the exchanges established in the plan that ultimately was passed into law. In spite of the work of these activists, which did lead the overwhelming majority of congressional Democrats to support a public option, no public option was included in the final bill.
Remarkably, it seems that the Washington Post (a.k.a. Fox on 15th Street) never heard about this debate. Its lead editorial told readers that:
“The current debate has an ideological incoherence on both sides. Republicans endorse a premium support model for Medicare even as they work to undo the new insurance exchanges in the health-care law. Democrats distrust premium support when it comes to Medicare but support the exchanges, with sliding scale subsidies that amount to premium support, in the health-care plan.”
If the Post had heard about the debate over a public option they would know that the vast majority of Democrats actually distrust a system of premium supports when it comes to the exchanges as well. This is why they pushed so hard for the public option. This public plan would both provide people with a way of escaping the private insurance system altogether and provide an effective competitor that could help to ensure that private plans did maintain acceptable standards.
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