There is a figure that says about 2/3 of Americans want a government option, but that figure drops to about 1/3 if private insurers cannot compete. Of course, this is exactly what will happen when taxpayer money is used to subsidize the premiums of the public-plan’s constituants, or the government forces hospitals to accept less payment for the same treatment, as Medicare does today.

Think about what may happen if 100 million people rush into the public plan or are dumped there by their employers within 2-3 years of its initiation. Not only would there be an enormous strain on the system, but the private insurance companies would have to raise their premiums to adjust to their smaller insurance pool, thus resolving themselves to a higher and higher paying clientele and excellerating the flight to the public system.

Eventually, we would end up having a system resembling a national health service, except Obama doesn’t favor individual mandates to sign up so you would still have millions of uninsured. And rich people would still get superior care.

Basically, everything that we want to reform about health care gets worse with the government-subsidized public option.

I’d be interested in seeing (and deconstructing) those figures. Source, please?

It’s not going to happen, unless the Dems hold the Repubs feet to the fire and say, “If this fails, it was because they opposed everything we suggested. Blame them…at the next elections.”

How can the democrats get away with that given the size of their majority?

3 out of 4 Americans want health reform.

If only they agreed on the nature of the reform. Not too many congresscritters are saying the current system is functioning well. They just don’t agree on how to improve it. So congress is a pretty good reflection of the nation then, isn’t it?

I wonder what would happen if the entire GOP just went home and told democrats to do whatever they want to, and then they’ll try it fix it after democrats screw it up and get voted out.

For starters, the first good thing that would happen is that we’d find out that even within the democratic party, there still isn’t a meaningful consensus.armenia New

3 out of 4 Americans want health reform. I wouldn’t want to be on the side which opposes them.

He didn’t. Even ABC itself found him unconvincing, after stacking the deck entirely in his favor for the health care infomercial “Town Hall.”

Others were even less impressed:

“…even with ABC’s best-laid plans to kickstart the debate about health care reform and not allow the “Prescription for America” special to become an “infomercial,” as many have complained – the president spent more than twice as much time as his questioners vaguely answering or not answering the questions asked of him.

…While Obama had to field some difficult questions — from the audience and ABC — he faced no Republican critics of his proposals. The network also allowed him to dominate the program with long-winded and vague answers.”

Yeah. He does that a LOT. It’s when he does anything other than that it’s noteworthy.

nowhere has a medical journal shown conclusively that a public option will control costs.

Mass. has not controlled costs with mandatory health care either.

Emmanuel probably just said the co-ops weren’t a deal-breaker for the President. Conrad wanted to hear that the President supports the idea because Obama’s a good guy to have in your corner in DC.